Life of Death: Heroes Never Die
by PrettyKitty Luvs U
Summary: It felt like she had been dropped into ice, hundreds of needles pricking her skin as the world around her frozen form stopped moving, the voices fading away as heartbreaking words echoed in her ears. A new year brings more challenges; difficult and hard ones. Life knows she can survive them. But can she survive the heart shattering lies as well? Sequel to Life of Death.
1. what you don't know, can kill you

**A\N:** Welcome to Life's second story, my dear kittens. I can't actually believe I'm writing a second series revolving around Life. In all honesty, I started writing Life of Death just because I wanted to write something where a ninja girl sneaks into a Museum XD Don't we all just love plot bunnies? :P

Anyway, this is due to your votes otherwise I wouldn't be giving Life a sequel. And for some reason, I'm getting this strange feeling that I might end up discontinuing this series. It may be _that_ or maybe 'cause I'm just getting hungry XP Lol. You guys go ahead and read while I make myself a sandwich.

 **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Young Justice. I only own Life and the new original character I've added in the story.

 _Enjoy~_

* * *

 _Heroes never die. They live on forever in the hearts and minds of those who would follow in their footsteps._

* * *

 **|THE WATCHTOWER**

 **|JANUARY 1, 3:58 EST**

His gloved fingers tapping different keys of the computer infront of him, Robin paused, a smile lifting the ends of his mouth as two arms coiled around his neck from the back. Bending down, Death rested her chin on his shoulder, staring at the computer's screen with no interest.

"What're you doing?" She inquired, the acrobat resuming his work. "I'm trying to find out what happened in those past sixteen hours." He replied, masked eyes glued to the screen.

The dark magician quirked an eyebrow, shrugging. "We're gonna have a small party in the cave. You coming?"

" _No_. I've got work to do."

Death blinked, allowing his words to sink in. "You _can't_ be serious!" She scowled, giving the boy a little shake. "Come on, idiot. Batman's gone to have a meeting with Wonder Woman and Superman about those hours. He'll take care of it."

"I know Bat's got this." Robin said, typing down as numerous files popped up infront of him. "But I've got to know what Vandal did with the League when they were in his control."

"Maybe he made them clean his house?" Death offered and then snickered. "I mean, I can totally picture Batman scrubbing Vandal's toilet with a toothbrush."

Robin rolled his eyes beneath his mask, turning his head to send her an unamused look. " _Wow_. Aren't you Miss. Hilarious?" He inquired sarcastically, Death ignoring his tone as she grinned. "So are you coming with me or what?"

A smirk coming to his lips, Robin brought his eyes back to the screen. "What?"

The dark haired girl glared at him before groaning. "Dick...!" She whined, burying her face in the side of his neck as he rolled his eyes again. "I'm busy. You guys go ahead and celebrate." He told her, continuing his work.

Giving out a frustrated groan, Death pulled a chair beside him. "You know? There's a saying I believe with all my heart." She began, plopping down on it and resting her chin on her palm. "What you don't know, can't hurt you."

"Yeah," Robin agreed, attention fully focused on the screen. "It can't hurt you but it may _kill_ you." Batman's protégé winced as the dark magician smacked his arm with a wee too much force.

"Way to go and ruin the awesome quote, moron." She snapped, glaring visual daggers at him before fixing him with a flat stare. "You're not moving your butt out of this chair, now are you?" Death asked him, frowning when he simply smirked in answer.

The young hacker couldn't help but be amused when she rubbed her head against his arm. "I seriously hate you sometimes." Death grumbled despite snuggling closer to him. "You're not going?" He asked, clicking a few keys.

"Nah..." She answered honestly, staring at the number of files he had opened on Vandal Savage. "I'm gonna stay here with you."

"You can go, rabbit. You don't need to stay 'cause of me."

"I don't wanna go now." The girl bounced her shoulders, surprising the boy as she shifted her head from his arm to rest on his chest. "I love your cologne." She mumbled, leaning even closer to him, unaware to the heat rising to his cheeks. Tugging down her mask, a grin tugged her lips on feeling him kiss her hair.

"You're like a teddy bear," The dark magician murmured, Robin raising an eyebrow in amusement. "I'm a _teddy bear_?" He echoed, Life nodding in response as she wrapped her arms around his neck, cuddling into his chest. "Yeah, you're _my_ cute little teddy bear." She answered easily when her expressions became thoughtful. "Remember when I said that I really hate you sometimes? I take it back."

Black Canary's protégé grinned, cocking her head up. Silver eyes meeting white lenses, she delivered a soft peck to the tip of his nose. "I love you _all_ the time." A warm blush spread over her cheeks as he instantly embraced her, a smile on his lips as he hugged her tightly to his chest.

And the only sound audible to her was the beating of his heart.

* * *

 _Five years later..._

 **|NEW YORK CITY**

 **|JANUARY 1, 18:26 EST**

"Don't mess this up." She mumbled to herself, emerald green eyes fixed on the elevator infront of her. Her muscles tensed as it's doors flung open, a scarlet haired beauty running inside with a Chinese man behind her.

Batgirl's eyes found her and she grimaced, "He's coming." She told her before running ahead, guiding the Chinese man towards the main rooms.

The blonde nodded, pursing her lips as the com-link in her ear burst to life. "Wonder Girl's down." Her mentor reported, "He's coming your way. Be on your guard, Mystica."

Sliding the sword out of its sheath, the fourteen-year old narrowed her green eyes as a heavy body crashed down the whole elevator, an enormous white-skinned man entering the hallway. His red eyes landed on her and his expressions became annoyed.

"Hey, ugly!" Mystica called out to him, raising the sword in the air. "Didn't your mom teach you it's wrong to hit girls?" She snarled, charging forward.

Lobo dodged her blows, chills running down the blonde's spine as he caught her arm. "Keesy fem!" The large man hissed, throwing her into the side wall.

An ' _oomph_ ' escaped her mouth as her body collided into the wall then dropped down to the floor with a thud. "Mystica, are you alright?" The feminine voice in her ear asked and she pulled herself onto her feet. "Yeah," She scowled, placing the sword back in its sheath. "I'm fine, Death." She answered, a smile coming to her lips as Wonder Girl entered the room, the Amazon smiling back as she approached her.

* * *

Finger pressed against the small device in her ear, Death parted her lips to further question but paused, watching Batgirl bolt into the main room with Tseng, the Chinese general. The dark magician arched an eyebrow, Batgirl ducking herself and the general behind the long desks when the door were thrown open, Lobo stepping into the room, his red eyes promising murder as he looked around for the Chinese man.

The dark magician walked infront of him, ignoring the way his face scrunched up into a snarl. "Who ever you are or _whatever_ you are," Death began, glaring at him. "Surrender or I'd be forced to take you down." She warned.

Lobo cocked his head to the side, an unimpressed look coming to his face. "Keesy fem thinks she can take down the Main Man." He laughed heartily, his chuckles echoing in the enormous room.

Gloved hand balling into fists, Death growled and then she threw out a fist, startling the large man as it slammed into his right cheek, making him stagger backwards. He wasn't fully recovered when she flipped forward, giving herself a boost and crashing her combat boots against his face.

Toppling to the ground, Lobo pushed himself up, rubbing his chin. "Keesy fem good," He complemented, turning to his left and lifting up a chair. Death ducked as it was sent hurling her way and then she gasped, Lobo delivering such a hard kick to her side that had sent her soaring into the nearby tables.

"But _not_ good enough." He smirked cockily, falling backwards when a strong body slid his feet off the floor.

"Hold it, clown face! We weren't done dancing!" Wonder Girl smirked, clenched fists ready to attack as she landed infront of him. The large man fixed her with a menacing glare, getting up from the ground. "Keesy fem." He growled, the blonde snorting in response. "Yeah, yeah, _keesy fem_. I've been called worse." She scoffed, then became thoughtful. "I _think_?"

The strong blonde flew up, punching him square in the jaw. Still in the air, Wonder Girl roundhouse kicked him in the face, causing him to stagger backwards before she pulled out her golden lasso, catching his upper torso inside it. Lobo laughed darkly, grabbing the lasso and yanking the teen closer to him, large fist slamming into her face.

As Wonder Girl crashed into the roof, Batgirl flipped over him, planting small bombs on his shoulders when he tossed her into the chairs ahead. "Planet of the keesy fem." Lobo scowled, but then became aware of the strong beeping noises echoing in his ears.

The bombs on his arms blew into small explosions and Wonder Girl bolted towards him, releasing a surprised gasp as he clasped a hand onto her ankle, knocking her into Batgirl.

Two hands were suddenly clamped on his eyes, Mystica biting her tongue as he began jerking right and left. "Keesy fem!" Lobo roared furiously, the blonde trying to keep her hold on him as she wrapped her legs around his mid back. "What the hell does keesy fem even mean?!" She questioned him, green eyes widening as he grabbed both of her wrists.

Finally getting up, Death raised her hands in the air, lips running with a spell. " _Emoks dnilb m_ -" She was cut short, Lobo throwing Mystica at her. Crashing into the table again, a fluent curse left the dark magician's lips as her protégé laid over her, moaning softly.

In a flash, Lobo was standing infront of the scared Chinese general. The corners of his mouth curling into a smirk, Lobo caught Tseng's arms. "Time to die, Krolo."

Leaping to their feet, Death and Mystica stared, horror creeping over their faces as Lobo tore the man open, Wonder Girl and Batgirl pausing in their run, both of them watching with eyes as wide as saucepans. All gazes were fixed on the small golden skinned alien sitting inside Tseng's body, looking absolutely scared.

Lobo plucked him out of the ripped body, ignoring the alien's screeching and clicked a button on his gauntlet. "The Main Man's job is done." He announced, smirking at the small group of females. "Keesy fems, your world's your world."

The wall behind him burst into an enormous explosion, smoke drifting in the room as Lobo hopped into his spaceship hovering outside. He placed the small alien infront of him, two metals wrapping around his neck to keep him in place. Lobo laughed, guiding his ship into the sky.

Mystica stalked forward with Wonder Girl, the blonde watching Lobo's ship disappear somewhere in the moonlit sky. "I think- I think..." Wonder Girl stammered, locking gazes with the fellow blonde. "Clown face was an alien."

Death scowled deeply, Batgirl kneeling beside Tseng's ripped body. "And that's not even the scary part." She commented, looking over at Death as the dark haired beauty gave out a sigh, pressing a finger to the com-link in her ear.

"This is Death to Nightwing," Her steely gaze swept over the ripped Chinese body then came to Batgirl, the redhead staring at her. "Whoever that guy was, he escaped. And he did something absolutely absurd. You might wanna see it from the building's security footage."

Her chest tightened as Batman's former protégé responded from the other side, "Acknowledged." He said and the magician turned to her team, ready to announce about going back to the mountain when Nightwing spoke up again. "Is anyone hurt?"

Death pursed her lips, casting a glance to everyone. "No, everyone's fine." She answered honestly.

There was a small pause, "Are you okay?" His voice was so soft as he asked.

Her shoulders slumping slightly, she ignored the chattering of Wonder Girl and Mystica, a deep sigh escaping her lips. Silver eyes met brilliant blue ones and Death tore her gaze away from Batgirl's worried face. "We're coming back. Over and out." She ended the link, avoiding his question.

Running a hand through her dark locks, she peered through the enormous hole Lobo had created, a heavy sigh leaving her hidden lips as her gaze came across the beautiful moon in the sky, surrounded by numerous glittering stars.

The ends of her lips pulled downwards, "I'm not okay." She whispered to herself.

* * *

 **A\N:** And say hello to the prologue! :D Hopefully things will make more sense from the next chapter... _Hopefully_. Oh and incase someone's wondering, 'keesy fem' means 'little girl'. It's alien language :P

Thank you so much for reading, dearies~


	2. history

**A\N:** I am a horrible, horrible kitty cat. I am so sorry I haven't been updating this. College is up, studies keep me busy, new fandoms are catching my attention and I've started losing inspiration for this story and all. Anyway! This version of Life's story is gonna be a little more upsetting. More drama and more problems. Basically, it's a little sad.

Sorry to tell you all, but I'm not going to do the 'question of the chapter' anymore.

 **DISCLAIMER** : Do I look like I own Young Justice? *sighs* I don't own it.

* * *

 **|THE WATCHTOWER**

 **|JANUARY 3, 16:59 EST**

 _"Recognized: Death B10."_

The zeta tubes announcing her arrival, Death stepped into the watchtower, her pace fast as she kept on pondering about the strange alien they had fought a few hours ago. "Okay, Life." The young woman mumbled to herself, making calculations in her head.

"I've gotta do the briefing, then there's a training session with the kids and then I've gotta go home and make sure mom took her medicines on time." She recited before sighing, her steely gaze flicking up and landing on two figures standing between the enormous room.

Her jaw clenched ever so slightly and she shook her head, shaking off the negative feelings as she quickened her pace even more. "Nightwing!" She called out, the former boy wonder turning from Batman to look at her.

The dark magician kept on going, "Did you check the security footag—"

Her sentence was cut short, two hands suddenly landing her on either sides of her waist and then lifting her up in the air. A surprised gasp left her lips as she was spun around before being placed back on the floor with a chuckle.

Silver eyes met emerald ones and she blinked, taking in the presence of the person infront of her. "Zach?" Death echoed, surprised. "When did you get here?!"

Zachary raised an eyebrow, propping his hands onto his hips. "What a great question to greet someone." He snorted, his tone sarcastic as he dramatically placed a hand on his chest. "And here I was," He feigned hurt, "Expecting a welcome hug."

A smirk lifting the corners of her lips, Death rolled her grey orbs, spreading her arms wide and embracing the taller magician into a bear hug. "It's good to have you back, Zachary." She squeezed his upper torso, the homo-magi laughing as he wrapped his arms around her petite figure. "It's good to be back." He chuckled, snuggling closer to her.

Releasing a small laugh, Death pulled back, smiling up at him. "So how was Egypt?" She inquired, remembering his mission there.

Fixing his black top hat, Zachary smiled back. "It was good. Egyptians know good magic when when they see it." He winked, Death smiling broadly as she parted her lips to question more but he interrupted her, an amused look on his face. "So you and Nightwing still on ice?"

And her mouth instantly went bitter. "Uh... yeah," She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked sideways.

"Oh. So have you seen someone latel—"

"Zachary, please." Death interrupted him, her tone snappy as she sent him a frosty glare. "I'm not in the mood to talk about this."

Zachary gave her a sympathetic smile, "Sorry." He apologized, a small smile playing on his lips when the raven rolled her eyes, giving out a sigh. With the clearing of his throat, the homo magi decided to change the topic. "I've wanted to talk to you about something actually, Life."

"If this is about me joining you in you're magic shows then I'm not interested." Death responded bluntly, Zachary frowning in response.

"Aw, come on!" He folded his arms over his chest, but then his eyes gave a slight pleading look. "Just give it a try."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Death gave out a small sigh. "There is no way I'm performing magic infront some rich nut jobs." She stated, raising a brow when he rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, a navy blue card appearing in his hand.

The homo-magi held it towards her, smirking as she took it. "If you ever change your mind, gim'me a call."

Her steely gaze swept over the card and she couldn't help but give him a look. "But I already have your number."

"Yeah, but it's really cool to hand out cards, y'know?"

Rolling her eyes, Death smiled, taking a few steps forward. "I'll think about it, Zach." She told him, Zachary smiling back as the two strolled over to where the others stood. "Take all the time you need." He said smoothly, attention focusing on the zeta tubes as it announced the arrival of the two new Justice League members.

The corners of his mouth curling upwards into smirk, he called out to them. "Zee, Rocket! How're you guys?"

Zatanna smiled at him, her blue eyes brightening on seeing her cousin as Rocket scowled slightly, not quite pleased to see him.

Sparing them a glance, Death placed a hand on her hip. "Did you see the security footage?" She inquired, and Nightwing nodded, tearing his heated glare from Zachary to look at her. "We did and we've recognized the aliens."

"Really?" She arched a brow, "Who are they then?"

The former boy wonder jabbed a thumb in the direction of John Stewart, the man standing near the holographic computer. He turned to them, clearing his throat a little as he began explaining.

"The big guy's Lobo," He said, pointing towards the huge white skinned alien. "He's an intergalactic bounty hunter. Extremely dangerous but not likely to return." Then he brought their attention to the small alien. "The little guys another story. That's a Krolotean, and Krolotean always travel in packs."

"Meaning more of them are on Earth." Batman added, Death's brows furrowing as Martian Manhunter gestured towards a blonde man in the room, worry clear on his face.

"I believe my friend may have information on that point."

The blonde offered them all an awkward smile, the green skinned man continuing. "Some of you have not met Adam Strange of S.T.A.R Labs. He is the scientist responsible for maintaining all of the Zeta Beam technology we use for teleportation."

Death looked over at Superboy, the clone's thoughts echoing in her mind. " _Was wondering why a stranger was on the top secret Watchtower._ "

"Uh, it's a little involved," Adam looked nervous as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Wish I had visual aids or something."

"I can assist you," Martian Manhunter offered, his eyes glowing a ruby red and a sudden pressure developed on everyone's heads. The Martian looked at the blonde, his thoughts open to him. _"We are all linked, Adam. What you remeber, we shall see."_

"Uhh... Great." Adam frowned, slowly collecting his thoughts. "Well, I was performing a routine Zeta Tube upgrade, when something went wrong and I found myself teleported half way across the galaxy to a plant called Ran. There was a scientist there; named Sardath. He was conducting his own experiments in enhanced, very enhanced, Zeta Beam technology."

"It took weeks to establish even basic combinations, but Sardath made me understand, some of his Zeta tech had been stolen."

The link disappeared as Martian Manhunter began, "Fits the Krolotean MO," He deducted, "Their entire culture revolves around stolen tech."

"Sardath detected transmissions between a single location on Rann, and multiple locations on Earth," Adam said, "He was attempting to trace those when he accidently transported me to Rann. He gave me this..." He drew out a small device. "It detects trace Zeta radiation and can pin-point all the locations where Krolotean have beamed to Earth."

"Then I'm ordering a two pronged attack," Captain Atom informed, "We'll stage simultaneous raids on every Krolotean target on Earth while a group of Leaguers travels to Rann with Strange here, to cut the Kroloteans off at the source."

Adam cleared his throat, looking sheepish. "We might have a problem with that..."

And Death's eyes widened as he pulled out a screen, multiple images of the Justice League flashing over it.

"Totally unclear on the why, but Earthlings are persona non grada in Ranns corner of the galaxy. And these six Leaguers, are wanted criminals,"

"Batman, it's the missing sixteen hours!" Nightwing looked over at his ex-mentor, Batman giving a firm nod. "Agreed. Five years ago, Vandal Savage took complete mental control over the entire Justice League. These exact six Leaguers went missing for sixteen hours."

"Never even occurred to us that Savage could've sent us into space," Martian Manhunter eyed the images, "I'll alert Hal. He and Guy are on Oo at the Core." The emerald skinned man turned his attention to them all, "Meanwhile, we have fifteen other active Leaguers to send to Rann to investigate."

Adam shook his head, "You're not getting it," The blonde man frowned. "There's a planetary watch alert out for every Leaguer."

Death raised a brow as Nightwing stepped forward, "Not all of us are Leaguers," He said, raising his arm out as if to make an offer. "We can send a squad to handle the Rann end of things and find out more about those missing sixteen hours without causing an intergalactic incident."

Her knuckles tightening slightly, the dark magician was about to jab her elbow into his ribs when Captain Atom spoke up. "Do it."

She scowled at that, biting her bottom lip before following Miss Martian,Superboy and Nightwing towards the teleportation beams. Familiar people stood in their way then, each smiling a friendly smile.

Rocket cocked her head, dark brown eyes soft. "You know that thing about you not Leaguers..." She offered a tight smile, Zatanna joining in with a welcoming smile of her own. "You four still have an open invitation to join the Justice League."

"Yeah," Zachary agreed, gaze shifting over to Death. "We could always use some awesome people."

Nightwing smiled at them, "We know, guys. But we're all—"

"Pretty happy—" Miss Martian continued, smiling softly.

"Where we are." Superboy completed, the corners of his lips twitching up.

Rolling her gray orbs, Death grinned at them all. "But thanks for the offer." The dark magician waved as they all entered the zeta tubes, a blinding white light enveloping them all.

* * *

 **|MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **|January 3, 18:04 EST**

The zeta tubes announced their arrival, its mechanical voice booming throughout the halls of the cave. Miss Martian immediately stalked towards the kitchen, a low growl leaving Superboy's throat as his ears caught the sound of Lagoon Boy's welcoming words. A hand landed softly on his shoulder, his deep blue eyes shifting to his left only to meet light gray ones.

Death tossed him a small smile, but frowned as he shrugged her hand off, marching towards the training room.

With a small sigh, she pursed her lips, a glare coming to her eyes before she increased her pace, falling into step with Nightwing who had been walking infront of her.

The former boy wonder winced as she slapped him upside down the head.

Death completely ignored the glare he sent her way, "We're gonna send the Team to an alien planet? Are you _crazy_!" She glowered at him, "What if they get hurt?!"

"We're not sending in the younger troops," Nightwing scolwed, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm thinking about sending in Miss M and Superboy."

"Miss M and Supes?" She snorted, "Are you serious?"

Nightwing gave her a look, "Just because they had a break up, doesn't mean they can't work together anymore. I'm pretty sure they'll do fine."

"Like we're doing pretty fine," She mumbled, not noticing his frown.

And Death swallowed, gaze shifting to the tiled floor as Batman's ex-protégé released a heavy sigh, "We'll send in Beast Boy too."

"What?!" She whipped her head at him, eyes wide as marbles. "What if Gar gets hu—"

He cut her off, "Life, _please_." Nightwing rubbed his temples and she found a pang of pain leaving her chest when he awarded her with an annoyed look. "They're all heroes. They know how to take care of themselves."

Her jaw clenching, she didn't bother to respond, increasing her pace and leaving him behind.

* * *

 **|MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **|January 3, 19:46 EST**

"What do you mean you cannot come?!"

"Mrs. Gregory, I'm really sorry bu—"

"I do not care what silly business you have, Cynthia. If you cannot come and take care of my children tonight, then do not bother ever coming to us again!"

"But Mrs. Gregory—"

" _Goodnight_ , Cynthia!"

There was a click, confirming that the British woman had hung up on the other side.

Mystica stared at her phone. A sigh left her lips as she ran a hand through her blonde locks, mumbling something across the lines of "there goes my babysitting job."

An idea seemed to click her and she looked over at Wonder Girl, "Hey, Cassie." She addressed the Amazon, "Do you know a family who needs a babysitter?"

Arms crossed over her chest, Wonder Girl sent her a smirk. "If you think you can handle little girls that are born warriors and have super human abilities, then yeah. I think I know a few families." She grinned as Mystica took a precautionary step away from her.

"I don't think I can babysit Amazons, Cass." She could see herself running after small super powered girls. Shuddering at the thought, Mystica smiled at the fellow blonde. "But thanks anyway."

"Why do you wanna babysit?" Lagoon Boy inquired, joining the conversation. Mystica gave him a look, "I need some extra cash." She thought about asking him about it, but realizing that he lived underwater, she decided not to.

Her gaze shifted over to Robin who was engaged in a conversation with Batgirl, "Hey, Robin. Do you have any younger brothers or sisters I could take care of?" The blonde asked.

It was a stupid question. Even if he had siblings and she babysat them, it was going to risk revealing his identity, something Batman hadn't allowed him or any of his former protégés.

"Sorry, Cynthia. But I don't have any younger brother or sisters." Robin offered an apologetic smile, Batgirl grinning beside him. "You can always babysit Robin here." She smirked, pinching the third boy wonder's cheek. "He's Nightwing's little brother. Plus, I don't think he'll mind having you as a babysitter."

Batgirl cooed teasingly, Robin rolling his eyes beneath his mask before batting her hand away.

Mystica ignored them, then blinked as a hand landed on her shoulder.

"I have a little sister and my parents are looking for a babysitter these days." Blue Beetle gave her a friendly smile.

Glancing at his hand, she shot him a glare, stepping back for his hand to slide off her shoulder. She didn't pay much attention when he arched an eyebrow at her action, "She doesn't have super powers, does she?" The blonde inquired.

Blue Beetle chuckled, "Well, she does has a thing for trying make up a lot."

"I can deal with that," Mystica's green eyes sparkled and she placed a hand on her hip, "So when should I start?"

He sent her a quizzical look, "Uh, sorry, hermana. But my parents are gonna decide tha—"

"I've got some good news for you all," Death announced, interrupting him as she walked into the room, Wolf following suit. She placed her hands on her hips, lifting her chin up. "No training session today."

A smirk quirked the corners of her lips as happy smiles made their way to all their faces on hearing the news.

"What she means to say is that you've all got an important mission today." Nightwing corrected, focusing his attention on all of them. He began pacing infront of them, "It's all hands on deck. The League and the Team will hit all fourteen Krolotean zeta locations simultaneously. Your priorities are to destroy all zeta tubes or platforms and search for any humans the aliens may have abducted. As always, Mal is ops manager, coordinating comm from here," He explained, pausing in his walk, deciding to split them in groups.

Mystica looked over at Lagoon Boy, arching a blonde brow as he prayed to be in alpha squad.

Nightwing's gaze found Wonder Girl. "Wonder Girl and I are alpha."

" _Yes!"_ Wonder Girl fist bumped the air, exchanging a grin with Mystica.

" _Neptune's beard!"_ Lagoon Boy cursed, face palming.

Death rolled her eyes as Nightwing kept on going, ignoring Lagoon Boy's mumbling. "Assignment: _Philadelphia_."

"Okay, okay." Lagoon Boy attempted to console himself, eyes locked on Nightwing. "Give me Beta."

"Batgirl, Bumblebee and Death." Nightwing said, the three heroines looking at him. "You three and Wolf will be beta."

Wolf gave out a bark, snuggling into Death's shoulder. The dark magician smiled, affectionately scratching his ear.

"Assignment: _Vladivostok_."

Turning to the others on her squad, Death began. "You guys go ahead." She patted Wolf's head, gaze flicking from Batgirl to Bumblebee. "I've gotta help Nightwing set the coordinates."

She was answered by nods, Wolf giving a final rub against her shoulder before running after the other females. Death watched as Nightwing neared the young recruits who were left, "Robin, La'gaan, Mystica and Beetle. You're gamma." He told them, Lagoon Boy glaring daggers at him.

Ignoring the atlantean's grumbling, Mystical skidded towards her mentor, the corners of her lips curling into a cocky smirk. "Hey, Death. Can I talk to you about something?"

The elder girl smiled, "Sure, Cynthia. What do you wanna talk about?"

Clasping her hands behind her back, the blonde looked up through her lashes. "I was thinking that it's almost been a year with me in this hero gig, maybe I could lead a squad once?"

Death gave her a questioning look, "You wanna be leader?"

"Well, yeah. That's what I wanted to talk about." The blonde smiled, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear.

But her eyebrows knitted together on seeing Death purse her lips before sending Robin and Nightwing a glance. "Sorry, Cyn. But you've gotta sit this one out. Robin's gonna be leading this one." The dark magician offered an apologetic smile.

And Mystica's mouth went bitter.

"Robin?" She echoed, scowling slightly. " _Why_? He doesn't even have any powers!"

Leaning down a little, Death placed a hand on her protégés shoulder. "It doesn't matter if you have powers or not," She gave a pressing look, "You don't use your powers often, you know?"

"Yeah, but I have a sword that can break anything!" The younger girl replied harshly, pushing off her hand.

Death fixed her with a stern look, "Being powerful doesn't make you a leader, Cynthia."

A low growl leaving her lips, Mystical stepped back. "Where I've come from, biggest and strongest is the one in command." She glared, Death pinching the bridge of her nose as she sighed.

"Look, Mystica. That criteria isn't everywhere. But I'll talk about it with Nightwi—"

"You know what? Just forget about it." The blonde scowled, sending a frosty glare at the elder girl. "I know you're too scared to talk to you ex."

But before Death could utter a word, the green-eyed girl spun on her heel, teeth grinding together as she stormed towards the hangar.

"Ready to go, Mystica?" Robin asked her, walking beside Blue Beetle.

The two boys were rewarded by a furious growl, both of them staring at her back as she boarded the bioship.

"What's her problem?" Blue Beetle raised a brow, Robin bouncing his shoulders in reply.

* * *

 **|NEW ORLEANS**

 **|21:59 CST**

Leaning into the organic chair, Mystica released a heavy sigh as Lagoon Boy went on complaining about how he hated being in gamma squad.

"I knew we got the soft gig." Lagoon Boy growled, Blue Beetle tossing him a smirk. "And yet," He crossed his arms behind his arms, making himself comfortable in his seat. "I'm strangely okay with that."

The blonde rolled her green eyes, her gaze drifting towards Robin who looked quite tensed. She parted her lips, probably to say when they were going to land when Blue Beetle cut her off, "Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Yes, I AM! "

The boy remained oblivious towards the number of quizzical looks being sent his way.

"Is... Is he talking to himself?" Mystica inquired, turning towards Robin who smiled gently. "You'll get used to it." He assured, then spoke through the com-link. "Robin to cave. Where in position."

A blue screen flickered on, Mal looking at them. "Acknowledged, gamma." He answered, "All Team squads and Justice League units are in place and ready; go time."

And the back of the bio-ship opened up, allowing all of them to climb out. Landing on the old cars, Mystica peered over the wreckage around them as Robin fixed his masked eyes on a toolshed, then threw a stern look towards Blue Beetle. The taller boy quickly nodded, forming a canon and opened fire.

The tool shed instantly disintegrated, its pieces clattering down. Mystica snorted, Lagoon Boy hopping down and examined the pieces.

"Congratulations, Blue." Lagoon Boy said sarcastically, "You took out an actual tool shed."

"Well, that was just _great_. Look how many aliens we've just killed." Mystica commented, landing right beside Robin, throwing him a teasing smirk as she placed a hand on her hip. "I guess aliens don't live in toolsheds, now do they?"

Blue Beetle shot her a glare, Robin brushing off her taunting comment. "Gamma to cave; there's no zeta tube here. No Kroloteans. No hidden entrance." The boy wonder pulled out his holographic computer.

Mal's voice boomed in their ears, "Watchtower sensors still read trace zeta radiations from the site."

"Confirmed," Robin said firmly, shifting his weight to the other foot. "But the radiation signature is coming from..." And as if realization had hit him, his white lenses widened. "Below the water line!"

Mystica shared a confused look with Blue Beetle as Lagoon Boy dived into the water.

A second of silence ticked by when Mystica broke it, "So... We're supposed to get in this cold water?" She inquired dryly, arching a blonde brow as Robin held out a rebreather towards her.

"That's the idea," He answered solemnly, shedding off his cape before placing a rebreather in his mouth.

She glanced at the rebreather held out towards her, then folded her arms over her chest. "I don't think I'd like to get wet."

"Aww, you scared of the water, señorita?" Blue Beetle cooed teasingly, reaching towards the blonde but blinked, staring at her as she slapped his hand away.

An icy glare was shot towards him, "I'm not afraid of anything!" Mystica hissed, snatching the rebreather from Robin.

Adjusting it in her mouth, she gave herself a push, diving into the cold waters of New Orleans. Blue Beetle rubbed his hand, looking slightly shocked. " _Jeez_... Is she always like that?" He asked, Robin shrugging in reply before diving in as well.

 _'I believe it would be wise to stay away from that girl, Jaime Reyes.'_ The scarab's voice rang in the boy's head, Blue Beetle scowling in reply. "Dude, I did not ask for your opinion." He replied with annoyance, following his teammates with a splash.

The teenagers swam ahead, Robin's gaze finding Lagoon Boy who was floating beside a large hatch that kept opening and closing. And Mystica was highly amused as the markings on Lagoon Boy's scaly skin glowed a faint blue, the atlantean suddenly growing into another creature.

Holding the hatch open, Robin signaled everyone to follow him. Mystica found it strange breathing into the rebreather, small bubbles escaping it every now and then as she exhaled. She narrowed her eyes, kicking the water harder as she tried to keep up with Blue Beetle and Robin.

She could remember Death telling her about a spell that made gills appear on one's neck and feet and fingers grew webs like fishes. But she couldn't use the spell. Her powers were too dull; not strong enough to give her access to the spells that her mentor used.

Though, she had enough to cast a small spell and to power out the sword who's sheath lay attached to her back.

The blonde was pulled out of her thoughts, emerald eyes meeting ruby red ones as a scaly hand took her by the elbow. Lagoon Boy's lips pulled themselves into a mischievous grin and the rebreather muffled the growl leaving the girl's throat as her eyes shot him glares as if to say how dared he touched her without her permission.

He seemed to know what she meant but he ignored it, tightening his hold on her elbow as he swimed ahead with great speed, pulling her along with him. "Last one out is a rotten seaweed!" Lagoon Boy grinned as they passed by Robin and Blue Beetle.

The atlantean made sure to release the blonde before they got to the surface, keeping his distance as far from her as he could. Fortunately, Mystica seemed to forget about it, pulling out the rebreather as she took a deep inhale.

Robin mimicked her, quickly taking her rebreather and tucking it into his utility belt. "So how was the swim?" Blue Beetle smiled broadly, him and Lagoon Boy unaffected by the cold water unlike their other teammates.

"Awful," Mystica frowned, twisting her golden locks as water dripped down from them.

Wet raven hair stuck to his pale forehead, Robin peered from behind the enormous rock they were all hiding behind. He pressed a finger to the com-link in his ear, "Gamma to cave," He began quietly, "We've hit the mother load; huge base, alien tech, multiple zeta, platforms and more Kroloteans than I can count."

"Acknowledged," Mal responded gruffly, "I'll send back up. But until then lay low." He advised strictly before the link became silent.

Blue Beetle spoke up, pointing to something behind them. "That may be a problema, ese."A loud beep began ringing, the teenagers craning their necks to see a wide screen that showed them all live.

Mystica winced as the krotoleans began screeching, running around with panicked while some of them started advancing towards them. She quickly climbed to her feet, muscles tensed and her hands balling into fists.

Blue Beetle sent Lagoon Boy an amused look, "Soft gig, _huh_?" He said sarcastically, shooting up in the air.

Robin's orders hitting her ears, Mystica drew out her sword, charging towards the little aliens. Though she was almost surprised as they didn't get hit by the sword, rather they simply clung to it, increasing its weight.

"The hell?!" The blonde hissed, jerking the sword sideways to throw them off. Kicking at a krotolean, Mystica placed the sword back in its golden sheath. Her emerald eyes narrowed as a swarm of them ran up to her, her hands curling into tight fists. "I can take these freaks down without the sword." She mumbled to herself.

"Mystica, heads up!" Robin's voice hitting her ears, the blonde turned around quickly enough to grab a small stick that the boy wonder had thrown her way.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Mystica mused, then ducked as a krotolean tried to pounce on her. Her palm landed on a small button and to her surprise, the stick extended into a staff.

Without wasting a second, she slammed it against a krotolean's small form before knocking it into another's forehead. She seemed to use it as a baseball bat, hitting at every alien that attempted to near her.

A sonic blast suddenly landed infront of her, strong enough to send the group of krotoleans flying. Her gaze moved upwards, meeting yellow eyes. Blue Beetle smirked, his arm shifting back to its original self. "It looked like you needed a little help, señorita."

Parting her lips to reply with a snarky remark, Mystica slammed her lips shut, using full force to throw her staff at him. His muscles tensing, Blue Beetle readied himself to fly out of the way when the staff swished past his shoulder, knocking into the face of a krotolean who was trying to take him from behind.

His eyes quickly moved back to the blonde, the girl running forward and taking the staff back. "Now, we're even!" She chirped, shooting him a sly smirk as she skidded beside Robin, lashing her staff out just to hit a krotolean.

"They really don't like you!" Lagoon Boy' shouted out, watching as the krotoleans started to run away from Blue Beetle, screaming something in fear. "I feel jealous!"

Blue Beetle turned his attention towards him, "He said _what_?!" He yelled out.

"I said I'm jealous!" Lagoon Boy answered, prying away the krotoleans clinging to him. "Don't rub it in!"

"Not you," Blue Beetle scowled, pointing at one of the kroloteans. "That one over there!"

Mystica paused, cocking her head up to give a questioning look, "You can understand what they're saying?" She inquired amusingly, Robin stepping infront of her and slamming his staff against one of the green skinned aliens.

"I don't understand exactly," Blue Beetle responded, perplexed. Then he gestured towards a krotolean, the little creature shouting out what seemed to be orders. "That one over there is ordering the kroloteans to zeta off world. He's setting this base to self destruct in four minutes!"

And in a flash, a large screen popped up in the air, strange symbols changing on it what appeared to be a time bomb.

"Then we're getting out," Robin scowled, hitting a krotolean before looking up at his teammate, "Anything else I should know?"

"No," Blue Beetle landed beside Mystica and Robin, "He said something about sacrificing the play things below."

" _Play things_?" Mystica raised a blonde brow, Robin slapping his forehead in realization. "The abductees!"

"Three minutes and thirty seconds, ese." Blue Beetle made an explosion gesture. "Then, _BOOM_!"

His eyebrows knitting together, Robin frowned. "And Nightwing said no unnecessary risks to the squad," He pondered then, released a sigh, "But this is necessary." He gave his teammates a stern look. " _Below_. We have to get below!"

And soon they spotted a small tunnel that lead below from where they stood. Breaking into a run, Robin ordered Blue Beetle. "Beetle on point," The third boy wonder pointed ahead, "Go!"

"Going!" Blue Beetle yelled back, arms shifting into a plow. He cleared the path, all of them following him as he flew forward. Knocking down a krotolean, Blue Beetle seized its neck on Robin's command. The krotolean growled, struggling to free himself but his attempts were all in vain.

A woman's voice echoed around them all, "Hello? Is someone there?"

In the centre of the tunnel, stood an enormous cage with many people trapped beneath it. They all swiftly sped towards it, the faces of the people lighting up with hope.

"It's Robin!" A voice cried out with glee, "The boy wonder!"

Batman's protégé smiled warmly in reply, Mystica rolling her eyes. "Yeah, let's just talk about the Bat's sidekick. I mean, it isn't like I did anything. I was just here to eat popcorn and enjoy the show." She grumbled to herself, letting out a puff of air from her mouth.

"That's not true, you know."

Mystica blinked, turning her head to her right as Robin fell in step beside her. He offered her a tight smile, "You and everyone else did great on this mission."

Trapping her tongue between her teeth, the blonde found herself flushing with embarrassment. She mentally cursed her big mouth as they approached the cheering people.

"Oh, thank heavens!" One of the captives beamed then all of them began screaming, trembling with fear. "More aliens!"

Apparently, they were scared from Lagoon Boy and Blue Beetle.

"Hey!" Blue Beetle glared, "We're not aliens!" He glanced at the krotolean in his grasp before raising his hands in surrender, "Okay, well he is but I'm not!"

"Get this open!" Robin turned towards Lagoon Boy who nodded before growing into the earlier creature and ripping away the cage's door.

The people inside it instantly fled out, Robin quickly turning towards Blue Beetle, his masked eyes landing on the krotolean in his hold. "Ask him the fastest way out!" He ordered.

"Dude," The armoured boy gave him an incredulous look, "I don't speak the— _wait_ , you can?" Blue Beetle asked himself, Mystica watching in amusement as he looked at the krotolean, "Well what are you waiting for?"

He began talking in the krotolean's language, Lagoon Boy pausing beside Robin and Mystica. "Blue's an… _odd little fish_ , isn't he?" The atlantean commented, Mystica raising a brow at his strange remark.

"Really?" She mused, then fixed him with a mischievous smirk. "What kind of fishes are me and Robin then?"

Lagoon Boy smirked back, "Robin is a wise fish, while you are an _eel_ ; shocking everyone who gets near you."

Traces of friendliness suddenly disappeared from Mystica's green eyes, "The hell is that supposed to mean?!" She demanded to know, Robin taking a step between them so she wouldn't pounce on the atlantean.

"This really isn't the time to fight," He advised strictly, Blue Beetle letting out a loud screech at them.

"We don't speak screech, Blue Beetle." Mystica sneered, the said boy shaking his head. "Right, right," He corrected himself. "This way. 'Come on!"

With that, he sped ahead, everyone else following suit before diving into an enormous pool.

A slight beep rang in the atmosphere, just before the bomb went off and suddenly fire was everywhere, explosions ringing everywhere. The explosion sent waves in the water, strong enough to slam into Mystica, the blonde knocking into Blue Beetle who inreturn caught her wrist, pulling her forward with him.

* * *

Gasping for air, Mystica pushed her head out of the water. She brushed the wet hair away from her eye as Robin and Blue Beetle appeared out with her, both of them breathing heavily. All of the captives were with them, looking around with bewilderment.

"Where's Lagoon Boy?" Robin questioned suddenly, all of them searching for the atlantean.

And in the blink of an eye, Lagoon Boy came out of the water with a loud splash. "That's right!" He cried gleefully, fist pumping the air. "Gamma squad rules!"

"As much as I hate to admit it," Mystica grinned toothily, releasing what was the first real laugh of her whole day. "We _rocked_ this mission!" She threw her arms up with a giggle, her teammates smiling at her.

The happiness was short lived, all of them growing silent as the Justice League members along with the whole Team appeared in the sky, their eyes sending them questioning looks with scowls.

Mystica's gaze caught her mentor's figure, Death floating high in the air beside the supercycle from where she scowled at them.

She bit her bottom lip, noticing how Robin grimaced, ready to face the scolds when Nightwing crossed his arms, leaning over the supercycle's front board. "Dude!" The first boy wonder laughed, "Way to get your feet wet!"

And a smile stretched Robin's lips, his teammates feeling relaxed.

Rolling her silver eyes, Death smacked Batman's ex-protégés head. She didn't pay any attention to his glare, "Don't encourage them." The dark magician scowled, then turned towards the younger teens.

"Now," She narrowed her eyes at Robin, Blue Beetle and Mystica. "What do you all have to say for yourselves?"

Robin parted his lips to apologize, ready to take all the blame for himself when Mystica piped up, a smirk firmly plastered onto her lips.

"Feeli'n the _aster_?" She suggested, grinning as Nightwing tossed her a proud smile.

"No," Death snorted, despite the smile managing its way to her hidden lips. "This basically means you all get extra training tomorrow."

She was rewarded by different cries of protest.

* * *

 **|GOTHAM CITY**

 **|22: 08 EST**

With a push, the door opened, a deep sigh leaving Life's lips as she entered the house. She gently shut the door behind her, glancing at the light coming from the living room. The young woman straightened herself, forcing a smile on her lips before she walked towards the room.

"Hi, mom!"

Paula gaze landed on her and she smiled, "Hello, sweetheart. Looks like we're back from work, huh?"

Her smile seemed to grow as Life knelt down to peck her cheek, grinning broadly. "Well, I don't call it work." She laughed, gray eyes drifting over to a small creature lying on her mother's lap.

Life quirked an eyebrow, looking amused. "I guess Jade dropped by, didn't she?"

Paula parted her lips to speak but she was beaten to it, Lian holding her small arms out, demanding to be pulled up.

Her hands clasping around the little redhead's armpits, Life lifted her up, smiling as Lian squealed with happiness. "As much as I hate children, I never mind having Lian around." The dark magician admitted, poking her niece's nose. "Isn't that right, Lian?"

Lian giggled, burying her face in her aunt's neck.

A smile pulling the ends of her lips upwards, Paula took Lian back from her daughter. "So how was your day?"

"Exhausting," Life groaned, stalking towards the kitchen. "I fought this weird alien guy and then went on a search for more aliens. It was really tiring!"

Paula smiled softly, Lian yawning in her arms. "The problems of being a hero,"

The dark magician snapped her fingers, the stove lighting up by itself. "Yeah, I don't remember being this tired since I stole stuff with daddy." She joked, placing a pan on the stove.

Taking out a few onions from a basket, Life pulled out the chopping board.

"Need any help, dear?" Her mother asked.

She was answered by a tight smile, "I'm just make an omelette, mom. I can do that." And just when Life was about to cut an onion, Paula spoke up again.

"How's Richard?"

The knife hit the chopping board with a wee much force.

"Dick's fine."

Paula frowned, "Life, what're you doing?"

The dark haired girl tossed her a questioning look, "I'm cutting an onio—"

"I'm not talking about the onion, Life." Paula interrupted, her brows knitting together. "Sweetie, why don't you think things through?"

Her façade crippling, a scowl graced Life's features. "Mom, we've had this chat before. I'm not talking about it again."

Lian giving out small snores, Paula frowned. "Yes, but—"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Her daughter growled, the knife's cutting speed increasing before it suddenly stopped. Releasing a heavy sigh, Life ran a hand through her hair, gray eyes soft as she looked over at Paula. "Me and Dick got a whole lot of history. I think I'm really done with him."

Her mother stared, as if knowing about the forced smile on her face. "Yes but— are you _crying_?"

The dark magician rubbed a fist against one of her watering eyes, "No, mom. It's the onions." She assured before tossing a smile to Paula. "Lian's probably gonna wake up. You should go and tuck her in."

And Life felt so relaxed as her mother nodded, silently wheeling out of the kitchen with a sleeping baby resting in her arms.

Squeezing her eyes for a second, Life opened them before sighing and then shooting a glare towards the vegetables infront of her.

A frown made its way to her lips.

" _Stupid_ onions."

* * *

 **A\N** : Is it me? Or has my writing gotten rusty? :/

 **EDIT** : So I'm real sorry that I'm not updating, guys. I'm super busy these days so I'm putting this on a temporary hiatus. Hope you all understand! :D


	3. let the invasion commence

**A\N:** Guess who came back from the dead?! This pretty Kitty! *throws confetti in the air* PARTY TIME, YA'LL! My sincerest apologies to the peeps who had to wait this freaking long for me to update this. Like, woah, it's been _two_ years since I even touched this fic. I was actually gonna start reupdating in mid of December, but then I already have some chapters ready and my classes start from December too so I was like, why not? ^^

 _ALSO_! Since my muse is back for this fandom, I'm gonna restart the question of the chapter from this chapter here so if you wanna participate in it, just leave a review :D

 **Disclaimer** : Me? Own Young Justice? Pfffttt. No way!

* * *

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

A scowl gracing her features, Life stalked forward, glancing around the empty hall ways with curiosity. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had been aimlessly walking forward, even though the strange huge walls looked so familiar, something about them almost sickening as she trudged along silently, guard up to detect any type of movement.

And then suddenly, there was a meek voice, "L-life?" It stuttered, "Life, is that you?"

Breath hitching, the dark magi paused in her walk, gray eyes growing wide to the size of marbles.

"Help me," the voice continued, a sob breaking out. " _Please_ , help me."

Swallowing the lump stuck on her throat, Life peeked out from the corner of a hall, blood running cold as she spotted a familiar face. With heavy steps, she neared the shorter figure, arms slowly wrapping around the younger girl who in return clutched her dearly, weeping silently.

"Please, help me," the girl sobbed uncontrollably, "I don't wanna die."

"You're not going to die," Life assured, squeezing her eyes shut as she pulled her closer. "No one is going to die."

No response came, only cold silence as the girl's grip loosened around her, her bright golden eyes still and glazed over as she fell limp in Life's arms. With a shuddering breath, Life pulled back, mouth going dry as the brunette in her grip fell onto her back, eyes lifeless and breathing stilled, _dead_.

"No," Life whispered, hand reaching out, fingers brushing against the crimson blood tainting the young heroine's shirt. " _No_. You-you can't die!"

She clutched her arms, breath stuck somewhere between her lungs. "You can't die!"

Another voice began, deep and bone chilling. "Can't you feel the delicious pain her soulless body gives?" It inquired grimly. "Can't you sense the power filling up each fibre of your body by her dead form?"

Fingers curling into tight fists by her side, Life dropped back, away from the dead girl, pressing up against a cold wall. "Leave me alone," she growled, gray eyes darting around to find the speaker.

Her gaze came across nothing but darkness; darkness that was slowly consuming her surroundings from all sides. She pressed herself more to the wall as the voice continued, unfazed by her panicking form.

"You are what _you_ are," it informed, devoid of any emotion. "Continue to fight against reality, and you will meet a similar fate; just like your ancestors had, just like your mother had. Face it, you are just like your kind. Cruel, selfish and hungry for power."

Eyelids sliding shut, Life cupped her ears, whimpering as the voice continued mercilessly, haunting her like a nightmare.

* * *

 **|GOTHAM CITY**

 **|January 6, 10:30 EST**

 _"Life!"_

Silver eyes snapping open, the said girl gasped, tumbling off the matters and onto the carpeted floor, wincing in pain as she landed on her bruised arm, the bed sheet tangled up with her legs. She grabbed the edge of her bed, breathless as she pulled herself up, gaze settling on the Alice in Wonderland poster pasted on the front wall.

"A dream," she mumbled, shoulders slumping. "It was all a dream."

Her gaze drifted back from the poster, over to the empty bed beside the wall, a frown pulling the ends of her lips downwards before she let out a heavy sigh, thrusting a hand through her curly black locks when she heard her mother shout from the other room.

"Life, are you awake yet?!" Paula called out from the living room.

Pulling off the bed sheet clinging to her legs, Life answered. "Yeah, mom! I'll be right there with you!"

With a final glance at the empty bed, the dark magi wrapped her arms around herself insecurely, making her way to the bathroom, mumbling something about stupid nightmares under her breath.

* * *

Arms stretching above her head as she yawned loudly, Life pulled out a chair, seating herself near the kitchen table as she muttered a spell, Paula smiling as the kettle lifted itself up in the air, pouring tea in the little two cups placed beside it. Rolling her wheelchair closer to the table, the woman placed a plate of waffles over it, ignoring how her step daughter offered her a frown.

"I always loved magic tricks ever since I was a child myself, never thought I'll have a magician in my family, though." She chuckled.

Life glanced from the pancakes to Paula, "Mom," she frowned, "you know you're not supposed to work, right?"

Paula waved her hand in the air, "what kind of mother would I be if I couldn't make breakfast for my own daughter?"

"You know the doctors told you to rest," Life reminded, jabbing a fork in the waffles. She tore off a small piece, biting it off the fork as she spoke, "Plush, you've got me. I can doosh the work myshelf." She swallowed the food in her mouth, smiling innocently as Paula glared, pinching her arm.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," The ex-Huntress scolded.

Letting out a shameless laugh, Life swayed her hand in the air, muttering something under her breath, the action quickly followed by the sounds of a broom sweeping in the living room, dishes clacking together as the tap above them opened as they began washing themselves.

"Told you I can take care of everything myself," The dark magi smirked proudly, folding her arms behind her head as she tipped her chair back a little.

Rolling her black orbs, Paula blinked, startled as Life's phone on the table vibrated, ringing loudly but before her daughter could take it, Paula had snatched it off, Life staring flatly as the ex criminal slid her finger across the screen, answering the call.

"Hello, Richard." She greeted gleefully, pushing her wheelchair away as Life attempted to snatch the phone back, but unfortunately lost her balance on the chair and fell backwards onto the floor.

Ignoring the loud thud in the background, Dick smiled on the other side. "Morning, Mrs. Crock. Uh, is Life awake yet or did she oversleep again?"

"Oh, she's awake." Paula responded, smiling. "Actually, me and her were just talking about y—"

 _"Emoc ot em!"_

As if soap had been rubbed over it, the smartphone slid out from her grasp, Life catching it in mid air as she offered the older woman with an unimpressed look, pressing the device against her ear. "What do you want?" She questioned, slipping a hand into the pocket of her shorts as she exited the kitchen briskly.

"Good morning to you too, rabbit." The former boy wonder responded sarcastically.

Life rolled her eyes on the nickname, while Dick continued. "You didn't show up early so I wanted to inform you that Megan, Conner and Garfield are back on earth."

"Is Gar okay?" She inquired instantly, muscles tensing.

"Yes," he sighed loudly, " _all_ of zeta squad is okay."

Leaning against the wall, the dark magi let out a breath of great relief. "Thank God," she mumbled, relaxing as the broom brushed past her, sweeping the floor so she stepped away, letting it clean her previous standing spot.

"You need to come to the Watchtower. I need to brief you on everything pretty quickly."

The way his voice went serious suddenly caused her stomach to twist with uneasiness, her brows knitting together in worry.

"Is everything alright?"

"Well," he grimaced on the other side of the line, "you're _not_ gonna be whelmed when you hear about it."

Running a hand through her hair, Life nodded as she chewed her bottom lip. "I'll be right there." And with that, she had hung up, tucking the phone away before she quickly moved towards the door.

Her hand had barely touched the doorknob when someone caught her wrist, Life raising a brow as a waffle was held infront of her face, Paula offering a smile as she released her hold on the younger woman.

"You're leaving with an empty stomach," her step mother frowned, Life rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time as she took the waffle from her.

"And you haven't changed too," Paula reminded, rolling her chair back from the door as Life slapped the side of her forehead, then closed her eyes, lips running with a spell.

 _"Egnahc sehtolc otni emutsoc!"_

Black smoke accompanied the spell, drifting away to leave Death in her costume, waffle in hand as she snorted. "Am I good now?"

Paula inspected her from head to toe, "Better."

With another roll of her gray orbs, Death clutched the doorknob, twisting it open when her step mother began again, chiding her. "And you're supposed to say _goodbye_ before you end a call."

Jaw clenching slightly, Death pretended not to hear the scold as she mumbled a loud farewell, closing the door behind her as she made her way out the apartment, glancing cautiously for anyone watching her leave.

She tossed the waffle away before she began climbing the fire escape, reminding herself that the zeta tubes weren't much far away from this place.

* * *

 **|GENEVA**

 **|January 6, 10:38 EST**

"I've already chased a krotolean yesterday. Why am I doing this again?" Jaime mumbled, brows furrowing as he stood inside an elevator, hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie as he waited.

 _'It is necessary that we hunt down these krotoleans, Jaime Reyes.'_ The Scarab began, its voice threatening. _'We will not fail again. The krotolean will be destroyed this time surely.'_

"Dude," Jaime frowned, responding to the AI. "We aren't supposed to kill it."

He was unaware about the questioning looks being awarded to him by his teammates. Cassie tore her gaze away from him, blue eyes meeting green ones as she offered Cynthia a friendly smile. Smiling back, Cynthia fixed the boy beside her with a heated glare.

"You're raising suspicion by wearing those sunglasses inside the hotel," she growled, Robin merely arching a brow over his shades as the elevator gave a bell, its doors sliding open.

As they walked out, Cassie fell in step with the boy wonder, tugging a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Uh, yeah, Robin. Those glasses are causing a _little_ suspicion," she said, then quickly smiled. "Not that they don't look good on you or anything!"

Jaime raised his brows as Cynthia scowled deeply, hands balling into fists by her sides and just when he was about to ask her what was wrong, a waiter stepped infront of them all, a man in his early twenties, offering a tight smile.

"Forgive me, children." He apologized, his accent heavily French. "But ze hotel is clo—" He paused, staring generally in Jaime's direction.

Robin grimaced as the waiter turned on his heel, bolting towards the halls, his feet thumping hard against the expensive wooden floor. "Get him!" Batman's protégé ordered, whipping out his staff.

Cassie nodded, pushing herself off the ground along with Jaime, blue armour quickly enveloping him as he rocketed after the runaway waiter. Sliding the sword out from the back of her jacket, Cynthia fell in step with Robin, both of them running as Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle flew forward, leaving them behind.

His comm bursting to life, Robin frowned as Cassie spoke up, "The alien left the human body. Me and Blue aren't sure where'd he went."

"Split up!" The third boy wonder ordered. "All of you, split up! We're gonna corner the alien!"

Obliging, Cynthia parted her way from him, entering another hall, the sword in a fierce grip as her green eyes darted around for the krotolean. Her muscles tensed upon hearing the vent above her rattle vigorously, before it blew open, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates as the krotolean shouted something in his mother tongue, sitting inside an escape pod as he started it, boosting the engine, sending his ride slamming into her form.

A gasp leaving her lips, the blonde's back crashed into the glass wall of the five star hotel, the krotolean driving his escape pod into the clear sky as she fell downwards, her scream ringing through the comm-link.

"Cynthia!" Cassie cried out, Robin scowling deeply on the other side. "Blue Beetle!" He hissed into the link, "Get, Mystica. _Now_!"

"On it!" Jaime answered, shooting towards the glass wall. His armour protecting him from the flying glass shards, he rocketed downwards, yellow eyes narrowing as he reached closer to her falling body.

Arms catching her around the waist, he came to a sudden halt, stopping in the air. "Gotch ya!" He announced in the link, smiling when his teammates in the hotel sighed simultaneously.

Cynthia ,however; shuddered and he blinked as she coiled her around his neck, clinging to him like he was a lifeline. She was muttering something about falling to her death, but he didn't pay much attention to it as the Scarab spoke in his mind.

 _'Your hormones are unbalancing, Jaime Reyes. You must release the female quickly so they can return to their normal levels.'_

"Dude, shut up!" Jaime snapped, surprised as Cynthia pulled back, arms still around his neck as she shot him a frosty glare. "Just 'cause you saved me, doesn't mean you can tell me to shut up."

He shook his head, frowning. "No, I wasn't talking to yo—"

She cut him off, glowering. "Take me up. Now."

Chewing the insides of his cheeks, he nodded, "Yeah, yeah," He tightened his grip on her, flying upwards.

 _'The Mystica is the cause of your sudden rise in body temperature. Release her—'_

"Stop talking," Jaime hissed as they landed inside the previous hall, the ends of his lips pulling downwards into a frown as Cynthia quickly detached herself from him, a smile making its way to her lips as Cassie flew into the hall, tackling the other blonde into a tight hug.

However, Cynthia winced as Wonder Woman's protégé squeezed her. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Cassie hugged her, then quickly stepped back, offering an apologetic smile.

Robin walked in, glancing at them all, ready to question about the krotolean when Cynthia beat him to it. "The alien got away," she informed, hands on her hips.

He nodded grimly, pressing the little device in his ear, communicating with Batgirl. As he chatted with the his fellow bat, Jaime turned off his armour whilst Cassie glanced at Cynthia's empty hands.

"Hey, Cyn," her brows furrowed, "where's your sword?"

His armour reappearing, Jaime took a step towards the broken wall, "It must've fallen. I'll go get it."

"No need," Cynthia replied, her teammates sending her perplexed looks as she stretched her arm out. The sound of glass shattering came from somewhere before the sword literally flew into the hall, Robin pausing in his talk as it swished past his right ear, his eyes narrowing behind his shades as Cynthia caught the sharp weapon quickly.

"Me and the sword are linked," she smirked coyly, pushing the sword back into his sheath. "So there's no way I can lose it."

* * *

 **|The Watchtower**

 **|11:00 EDT**

Leaning her elbows onto the long table, she massaged her aching temples, eyes still closed as she gradually absorbed the information shown her through a mental visual link. Exhaling loudly, she straightened in her seat, gaze shifting from the martian sitting beside her to the pair of masked eyes watching her closely.

"So lem'me get this straight," Death began incredulously, brows furrowed. "We're being invaded... by _aliens_?"

"Something like that," Nightwing responded smoothly, arms crossed as he sat in the opposite seat. "Miss M read it from the mind of a krotolean General in Rann."

Miss Martian nodded from beside her, "And we know that the kroloteans have an emergency rendezvous point inside a volcano in the South Pacific."

"Wow," Death gave her a look, leaning back in her seat. "Guess I missed a lot in the morning meeting, didn't I?"

The green skinned beauty shook her head, smiling while Nightwing raised a brow. "You should be glad Batman wasn't with us in it. He'd have your head if he knew you weren't there 'cause you overslept."

" _Hey_ ," the dark magi protested, rubbing her arms as she glared. "You try getting tossed around by Lobo like a ragdoll. Then you'll know how hard it is to even stand after that."

"We've already devised a plan for the attack on their base," Nightwing told them, pretending not to hear her comment.

A scowl coming to her face, Death leaned back into her chair, hearing his plan and not noticing Miss Martian peek at her from the corners eyes, a frown slipping onto her lips before she looked back at Nightwing.

* * *

 **|South Pacific**

 **|January 6, 20:39 HAST**

"Why does Robin get to be leader all the time?"

Silver eyes blinked, peering downwards to meet bright emerald ones, Death giving her protégé a quizzical look. "Is it necessary that we have this conversation right now?" She asked, unamused.

Mystica narrowed her green eyes, crossing her arms over her chest arrogantly. "Yes." She leaned against the volcano's hard rock, "what does he have that I don't?" She demanded, "He let the alien escape. I could've done a better job than him!"

" _Really_?" Death snorted, a smirk curling the corners of her lips upwards. "What I heard was that you fell out of the building and Jaime had to save your butt."

Nails biting into her arms, Mystica gritted her teeth together. "Robin was the one who got our cover blown in the first place. The alien saw that he was wearing his sunglasses _indoors_. Who the hell wears sunglasses indoors?!"

"I can't understand you here, Cyn." Death cocked a hip out, arching an eyebrow. "Are you mad that Robin was leader, or are your made that he wears shades indoors?" She inquired, teasing the younger girl.

If looks could kill, Death would've been fried over a hundred times by now as Mystica glowered furiously at her mentor, not even commenting on the older girl's humor as she whirled around, marching over to where Wonder Girl stood.

Death watched her retreating back, rolling her eyes when another feminine voice piped up, more mature this time.

"You're protégé's behavior is very..." Wonder Woman searched for a precise word, " _strange_."

The dark magi gave her shoulders a bounce in answer, "Mystica's a bit hot headed sometimes," she turned towards the amazon, awarding a smile. "But she's a good kid."

A rare smile slipping onto her lips, Wonder Woman nodded, bright blue eyes drifting to land on her own protégé, Wonder Girl chatting amiably with Mystica. The amazon placed her hands on her hips, attention focusing on the absurd sword's sheath strapped to Mystica's back. "By gods," she blinked, recognizing the weapon. "that's the sword of Beowulf!"

Death glanced at her sidekick, "Yeah, that's the sword of Beowulf alright."

"But how?" Wonder Woman gave her a look, features hardening. "From what I have read in the ancient books of Themyscira, the sword of Beowulf can only be possessed by the purest of hearts."

"True," Death nodded, gaze focusing on Mystica who was busy chatting with Wonder Girl, smiling brightly. "But Mystica and the sword are sort of uh," the dark haired woman chewed her bottom lip, pondering for a better word before she shrugged. "Connected? Yeah, Cynthia and that sword are sort of connected."

"Impossible," Wonder Woman frowned. "That sword possesses tremendous power. Handing it to a mere child like her is dangerous."

"Not really. Cynthia can't excess its whole potential actually."

The amazon blinked, adjusting to the new information. "You said that her and the sword are connected, but yet she fails to reach its maximum power?"

"Well, you can say that the sword of Beowulf is using her a temporary host? Until an actual pure heart comes for it, I guess?" Death offered with a bounce of her shoulders, "That sword even gave some of my power to Mystica too. But," With a small glance in her protégé's direction, Death turned towards the princess of Amazons. "She _can't_ even cast even the slightest level of high spells."

Blue eyes narrowing upon hearing the response, Wonder Woman parted her lips to question more when their silent comms burst with a familiar voice from inside the volcano.

"This is Nightwing to delta squad!" He hissed in the link, "the enemy is escaping, requesting back up right now!"

Death took a step away from the volcano, watching with great interest as Superman bolted up towards the sky, clutching onto Superboy as they crashed through the volcano, creating an enormous hole as they entered inside.

Red boots pushing off the ground, Wonder Woman followed suit along with the others, Death muttering a spell under her breath. " _Etativel_!" And soon she was soaring upwards, landing inside the volcano, glancing at her side as Wonder Girl dropped off Mystica, then flew off towards her own mentor.

"Care to explain _why_ still haven't you learnt a levitation spell?" Death scowled, fixing the shorter teen with a frosty glare.

Mystica released an unamused snort, sword already in her grasp. "I don't need no stupid spell when I can do _this_!" She charged forward with a battle cry, bringing the sword's blade down on an attacking alien machine.

Sparks flew out the engine, and she flipped backwards, tossing a proud smirk in her mentor's direction as the machine blew up, throwing out krotoleans.

Gray eyes sharpening, Death ducked as crimson lasers blasted over their heads. She caught sight of the krotoleans firing from the above levels, screeching in their mother tongues before she began chanting.

 _"Tel eht dnal woleb rieht teef elbumrc!"_

The support beneath the krotoleans gave away, all of them screaming as they fell downwards, landing over their partners below them. But Death paused, steely eyes sharpening as krotoleans began to surround her from all sides, weapons aimed and ready to open fire. She waited as the taller one in them let out a loud screech which seemed to be an order as they all got ready to shoot.

 _"Etativel!"_

With a quick push to the floor, the dark magi shot upwards into the air, mildly amused as the lasers got hit into their own companions, sending them all sliding across the floor, unconscious. Still in the air, Death peered around for someone, then flew forward, ignoring the heat inside the volcano.

* * *

"I took down two of their attack thingies!" Wonder Girl grinned broadly as she landed beside Mystica, wrapping her golden lasso back to her hip.

Mystica grinned faintly, continuing to back away from the advancing krotoleans. "How about we try out maneuver eight here?"

"Of course!" Wonder Woman's protégé chirped, clasping a hand around her fellow teammate's wrist before she pivoted on her heel, throwing her ahead with full force.

The sword's blade glimmering in the dull red light, Mystica dug it inside one of the krotolean machines. It seemed to cut through the alien metal like butter, explosions following suit. Unfortunately, she couldn't make a straight landing, and ended up crashing into another another body, both of them slamming into the volcano's wall.

A groan escaping her lips, Mystica staggered up, sword clattering to the floor as she rubbed her aching side painfully. "You two really need to work on that move again," Robin commented, getting to his feet as he clutched his chest where the blonde had crashed against him.

He swallowed the pained moans begging to be released from his mouth as Wonder Girl landed beside him, ushering to his side quickly. "Are you okay, Robin?" She inquired worriedly, reaching out to gently touch his arm.

He smiled softly, "I'll live."

Wonder Girl beamed at him while Mystica scowled from behind the masked boy, leaning down to pick up her sword.

* * *

Her feet touching the floor, Death slid down the small hatch in the floor, then came to a halt as her gaze landed on a dark figure standing beside the pool between the room. Her chest tightened as Aqualad, all clad in black, electrocuted Superboy, the clone hitting the floor before his attention focused on her, wise gray eyes narrowing before he dived into the pool, making his way out of the volcano through the chilly waters.

Her muscles tensed instantly, and she bolted forward, a spell at the tip of her tongue as she readied to jump in the pool as well. But a hand shot out, clasping around her forearm, tugging her back. She staggered a bit, gaze coming across a domino mask as Nightwing clenched her arm tightly.

"There's no time for chasing him," he told her, jabbing a thumb in another direction of the room. Her gaze followed his motion, before she blinked, a chill running down her spine on seeing a strange black device fixed to the rocky wall.

Nightwing grimaced, "That's a _bomb_. We all need to get out of here."

She yanked her arm out of him grasp, ignoring his frown as she neared the bomb, inspecting it closely. Superboy was right beside her soon, as Nightwing crouched down infront of the alien bomb.

"Can't you disarm it?" She inquired, Nightwing shaking his head. "It's alien tech. I can't do anything."

"Maybe I can pull it off?" Superboy offered, reaching out towards it but stopped as Nightwing got up, scowling. "Can't take the risk. It might have pressure or motion censors. We all need to get out."

He pressed a finger to the device in his ear, speaking grimly. "There's a bomb here, clearly of alien origin. All squads evacuate to bioship. _Now_."

Batman's deep voice boomed through the link, "You heard Nightwing. _Move_!"

As they all retreated, Death stared in amusement as Wonder Girl soared above them all, arms holding Robin and Mystica as she flew out of the hole they had originally entered from. But the dark magi blinked, surprised as an arm slid around her waist. Superboy gave her a friendly smile, pulling her against him as he gave a forceful push to the floor they were running on, sprinting into a giant leap, until both of them landed outside the volcano.

Death swayed a little, trying to regain her balance as the kryptonian placed a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled weakly as Nightwing landed beside her, grappling hook pulling back into the grapple gun before he sped forward, falling in step with Batman.

She smiled at Superboy, "I'm just not used to using people as a support when I'm in the air."

He gave a brief nod in response, both of them racing towards the bioship. As soon as they entered, Death did a quick count of everyone inside, breath hitching upon coming to realize that one person was missing. She searched for the younger heroes among the crowd, muscles loosening to find Robin seated, along with Wonder Girl, Mystica standing right beside them.

"There's someone missing," Death announced, walking forward before an inorganic chair morphed itself out of the floor.

She plopped down on it, seatbelts tightening themselves around her as Superboy peered around, confused. "Where's Superman?!"

"He'll be fine," Batman told him, masked eyes shifting over to Miss Martian who sat in the pilot seat. "Get us out of here right now."

The green skinned beauty gave a firm nod, the bioship leaving the ground as it moved upwards into the air. Superboy scowled deeply, shooting an icy glare to Batman's back as he leaned against the ship's wall. And in a mere second, the island behind them blew into pieces, the explosions causing everything around it to shake violently.

As the bioship was sent hurling forward, Miss Martian attempted to steady the ship again as the people inside who weren't seated were sent tossing around. Death clenched the controls infront of her while Mystica gasped, holding onto the dear life of Wonder Girl's seat as everything shook vigorously.

In a few minutes, Miss Martian had full control over the ship, steering it down to the ocean. Wonder Woman, along with Superboy and Aquaman got up from their seats, quickly stalking towards the ship's exit to help Superman board it. Mystica straightened herself, surprised as a chair appeared behind her and she dropped back on it, sighing heavily.

The silence was short lived as Wonder Girl spoke up, glancing out the windows. "What just happened?"

"An _explosion_ , that's what happened." Mystica responded, blinking as black seatbelts grew out from her chair, strapping her in.

Robin turned towards them, brows knitted together in confusion. "Yeah, but why?"

Miss Martian gave them questioning looks, "The kroloteans were clearly trying to build a new ship." Lagoon Boy frowned from beside Mystica, "They had to angelfish. It was the only way for them to leave earth without their zeta platforms or their original ship."

"But was Aqualad helping them escape or was he luring them into a trap?" Miss Martian questioned, perplexed.

"The bomb was clearly of alien origin, yet the krotoleans knew nothing about it," Nightwing began, "where did it come from?"

The ends her lips pulling downwards into a frown, Death stared out the long window of the ship, hands curling into his fists in her lap. "I can't believe I actually saw Kaldur like that just because what happened to Tula," she mumbled, shoulders slumping.

"Tula died a hero," Nightwing's voice hit her ears, causing her jaw to clench as she glared out the window. "And besides," he continued, glancing over to her seething form briefly.

"People _change_ with the changes in life, not caring how it effects their friends and family."

Bitterness pooled in her chest, and before she could deliver the snappy comments ready to escape her lips, he had engaged a conversation with Batman, both of them discussing something in a hushed tone as she leaned her elbows over the dashboard infront of her, gray eyes staring into the vastness of the ocean before her.

* * *

 **A\N:** Hope you guys enjoyed. Your thoughts are more than appreciated~ ^^


	4. make me wanna listen

**A\N:** Heyyyy, guess who's back with an update? :)

 _"The winner from last chapter is Anime hotty lover 18." Congratulations, you win virtual sweets! =^_^=_

 **DISCLAIMER:** I own nothing but my original characters ;-;

* * *

 **|WASHINGTON DC**

 **|February 13, 21:06**

Tugging the jacket closer, she fished out a smartphone from her pocket, catching her bottom lip between her teeth as the time shone back to her in digits. She sighed, her breath coming out as white clouds in the cold as the person beside her peeked at her phone, masked eyes sweeping over the shining screen as she slid her thumb across the phone's lock.

"Gotta busy schedule?" Nightwing inquired as they trudged down the empty street.

Fingers typing in a quick text, Death pocketed the phone away. "Something like that," she answered, clasping her hands behind her back as she peered around the empty street. "Zatanna's hosting her first ever magic show in New York tonight. She wants me and Zach to be there."

The dark clouds in the sky blocked away the moon, street lights showering dim light over the side walk. "I wouldn't have dragged you along but we need to be there," The former boy wonder frowned, "Roy needs our help."

"To be very honest," Death began, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't think firecrotch is gonna appreciate me being there. And anyway," she stopped, propping her fists on her hips. "You can always tell him about Lia—"

A breeze brushed past Nightwing, a grin pulling the ends of his lips upwards as the dark magi blinked repeatedly, startled as arms snaked around her waist, pulling her up in the air as a familiar laugh echoed in the chilly atmosphere. It took a few moments for her to understand what was happening, and then she laughed heartily as well, throwing her arms around the ginger's neck.

"Wally!" She squealed excitedly, squeezing the speedster's torso.

Grin threatening to reach his ears, Wally stepped back, hands coming down to rest on her hips. "How's my favorite magician doing?" He smiled, pressing his lips to her forehead briefly.

Her smile bright, Death nudged him in the arm playfully, a smirk curling the corners of her lips upwards. "I'm good. How're you, speed racer?"

"I'm good too," Wally grinned toothily, shifting his weight onto his left foot, mossy green eyes meeting pure white lenses. His grin morphed into a smirk, "Dick, my man!" He held his fist out, Nightwing smiling as he bumped his fist with the redhead's. "Nice to see you too, KF."

Silver eyes glittering, Death parted her lips, ready to ask whether Artemis was here too when another voice spoke up, catching her attention instantly.

" _What_? No love for us?" Green Arrow asked jokingly, stepping into the light of the street. Black Canary stood beside him, smirking knowingly as Death grinned widely beneath her face mask, jogging up to them swiftly.

"Ollie! Dinah!" She laughed, tackling her ex mentor into a hug. With a roll of her blue eyes, Black Canary returned her embrace, smiling. "It's nice to see you, Life." She said softly, watching with great interest as Death pulled back, then clasped her arms around Green Arrow's torso, hugging him tightly.

The blond man chuckled happily, patting the young woman's back with affection.

Observing them from a distance, Wally stuffed his hands into the pockets of his brown coat, glancing at Nightwing questionably. "Did you tell her?" He inquired silently.

Nightwing kept his gaze fixed on the dark magi as she chatted amiably with her old mentors.

"Not yet," he answered easily, then fixed his best friend with a knowing look. "I don't think she'll be willing to listen if I told her. But," he grimaced, the lenses of his domino mask narrowing into slits.

"I'm sure she will, if you get Artemis to talk to her about it."

* * *

 **|MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **|February 13, 21:** **49** **EST**

Dropping her pencil, Cynthia gathered the scattered papers, but blinked as she heard someone whisper near her. She cocked her head up, unamused as Garfield offered her a weak smile through the hologram of his homework as she sat across him on the table.

" _Pssst_ , Cynthia, _pssst_!" He called out to her in which what he considered a very silent tone, ignoring the dumb look she was awarding him with. " _Psssttt_!"

"What do you want, Logan?" She asked, irritated, placing her paperwork neatly inside a file as he gave her a pleading look.

"Can you tell me what's the name of—"

Mal's voice cut in instantly, "Gar's cheating." He announced, Garfield flinching in his seat as Professor Carr, his tutor appointed by Mg'ann, shot him a look.

"My homework's done," Cynthia declared, slamming her book shut as she began placing her school items in her bag.

Professor Carr raised his brows in question, strolling from Garfield's side towards her, peering down at her work. "Your report for Shakespeare's novel is complete?"

"Yeah," the blonde girl nodded, barely listening to him as she zipped up her bag. "Romeo and Juliet is the suckiest novel in the history of what I've read in my whole fourteen year old life."

"Really?" Megan looked over her shoulder, her hand clasped with Lg'ann's as she smiled gently. "I really liked it, except for the end— "

She was interrupted as the holographic screen infront of them all showed the face of Adam Strange who spoke up, "we're ready," he told them, "zeta shield relay satellites are all in place. We are now activating satellites."

The screen showed the emptiness of space, a number of satellites fixed around earth before they all shifted on, covering the whole planet with a bright golden shield from all sides.

" _Congratulations_!" Adam gave them a tight smile, "the zeta shield is now operational!"

His arm drooped around Megan's shoulders, Lg'ann smiled victoriously. "Absolutely historic," he glanced back at Garfield and his teacher, a playful smirk on his face. "Professor Carr! You should have your cave-school pupil write a term paper about this."

Garfield glared angrily, doing a slitting neck motion with his hand at his sister's beau.

Lg'ann took no notice, still admiring the new zeta shields around the earth. "With the zeta shields in place, no alien can teleport to our planet from off world." He smiled down at the martian girl in his arms, paying no attention as Superboy walked by them, the clone scowling while the atlantean continued.

"Even your friend, Strange, won't be able to zeta to and from Rann without prior approval."

Standing near to Mal, Superboy crossed his arms over his well built chest. "Shield's great and all," he snorted, "but it still won't stop a space ship or a boom tube."

Cynthia acted as if they weren't there at all, standing up from her seat before she stretched her arms over her head. "Anyone seen Cassie?"

Garfield kept his green eyes on his homework, mumbling loudly in answer. "She's out with Wonder Woman."

"Oh," Cynthia frowned, then quirked a brow as Jaime began loudly, arguing with himself. "Not compatible?! Not compatible with _what_?!" He snapped angrily, folding his arms across his chest. "I swear I don't understand half the things you say!"

Mal have him an amused look, "you're not the only one."

She stared as the hispanic boy flushed in embarrassment, lowering his gaze to avoid the puzzled looks being directed at him. She pushed her chair back, making her way over to them all as Superboy started, "Where's Nightwing?" His eyes searched for Batman's ex protégé.

"Taking the night off, personal business." Mal responded, perplexed as Superboy hummed in approval, eyes still darting around the room. "Okay. Where's Life then?"

"Took the night off too," Mal replied again, Superboy raising a brow. "Both of them?"

Mal gave a firm nod, a coy smirk curling the ends of his lips upwards. "Yeah, _both_ of them." He then gave a quizzical look to the kryptonian, "but hey, didn't they break up or something?"

His question falling on deaf ears, Superboy inspected all of his teammates slowly, gaze sweeping Cynthia who walked over to Jaime's side, the boy busy in grumbling something to himself like he did most of the time.

"Hey, Blue Beetle." She started, snapping him back to reality as he spun to face her, hiding his hands behind his back as if he were about to attack her.

He tossed a friendly smile, "Oh, hey, Cyn!"

"-thia," she replied, Jaime blinking confusion. "Uh, what?"

" _Thia_. It's Cynthia." She elaborated the way to say her name, ignoring how raised he brows in amusement as she continued, "are you free tonight?"

It took a second or two for her question to absorb in, and Jaime quickly jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "uh, yeah. I'm totally free," he answered coolly, trying to act all nonchalant as Garfield rolled his eyes in the background.

Brown eyes shining, Jaime rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Y-you wanna hang out?"

"Actually," Cynthia began, ignoring how Lg'ann and Megan were brushing their noses together lovingly behind them all. "I wanted to ask abou—"

She was rudely interrupted as Superboy stepped in between them, clenching the collar's of Jaime's sweatshirt, the boy gasping in surprise as he was forcefully yanked ahead by the clone. " _Tag_. You're it." Superboy growled, dragging him away while Mal stared, frowning. "Woah, Con! What're yo—

"Taking the night off," The kryptonian responded gruffly, continuing to pull Jaime. "Personal business."

Mal opened his mouth to protest more, but paused as Cynthia stormed after the two, jaw clenching as she caught up to them. "Hey!" She glowered, reaching out to grab the back of Jaime's shirt. "I was talking to him!"

A scowl gracing his features, Superboy tightened his grip on the boy's collar as he glared down at Death's protégé. "Jaime," he said calmly, "tell your girlfriend here, she can't have you for tonight."

Heat crawled up the said boy's neck as Cynthia's eyes shone dangerously, "I am _not_ his girlfriend," she bit out through gritted teeth, "and I have something to talk about with him!"

Unfazed by her seething form, Superboy stared flatly, then released Jaime, allowing him to stumble back a bit. "Fine," the clone grabbed Cynthia's arm, the blonde clenching her jaw as she was dragged forward without permission.

"You can come too," Superboy said monotonously, ignoring how she tried to dig her heels in the tiled floor, her glare promising cruel murder.

Jaime stared at their backs, the Scarab speaking in his mind. _'Body temperature is lowering to normal now. Suggestion: To keep hormones and temperature at optimum level, avoid all contact with the human female known as Mystica.'_

He scowled, armor covering his body. "No one asked for that information, ese." He snorted to himself, following his teammates as they all made their way towards the cave's hangar.

* * *

"So, uh, you can do magic, right?"

Green eyes moved upwards, narrowing upon meeting yellow ones. "Yeah, so what?" Mystica questioned as she sat in the genosphere, Superboy guiding Sphere through the night air of Washington.

Blue Beetle smiled softly, leaning back in his seat as he attempted to break the icy silence between them all. "I've never actually seen you use it so I was curious."

"I don't need magic to do anything," she snorted, folding her arms over her chest.

 _'There is a mystic aura around her, Jaime Reyes.'_ The Scarab began, ' _but it fails to reach the higher level which her mentor possesses. However, I warn you to be wary of her still. Her sword is quite powerful. Not to mention, her ability to upset your primitive emoti—'_

"Shut up!" Blue Beetle hissed, then quickly flinched as Mystica shot him a frosty glare. "No!" He began apologetically, "I-I wasn't talking to y—"

"Where are you taking us anyway?" She demanded from Superboy who sat in the front seat, completely ignoring how Blue Beetle deflated, gaze settling on the clone as well.

Shifting in the pilot seat, Superboy faced them, blue eyes flicking from Mystica to Blue Beetle. "Don't you wanna know what we're doing too, Blue?"

The boy blinked his pale eyes, then nodded slowly, "Yeah, look. I know you only picked me because Gar was studying and L'gann and M'gann were— _whatevering_ ," he took a quick glance from the blonde girl seated beside him, "And Cyn... _thia_ got dragged in as well, but we want to help you, ese."

"Yeah," Mystica leaned forward, "so tell us what's going on?"

Pondering on the question, Superboy nodded slowly, clicking a few keys on Sphere. A holographic blue screen lit up infront of the two young heroes. It replayed the explosion in Melina island from a few weeks ago as Superman's clone began explaining, "the bomb Aqualad used last month to destroy Melina island was clearly of alien origin. Obviously the kroloteans that perished there didn't know anything about it."

Superboy straightened in his seat, grimacing. "We need to find out _where_ it came from."

"Alright, ese. I get this," Blue Beetle nodded in acknowledgment. Mystica snorted loudly, folding her arms over the board facing her seat as she dropped her chin on her palm, "how are we even going to find out anything when we don't know where to look for it?"

"Actually, I _do_ know where to look." Superboy jerked his chin downwards, motioning towards a white truck that drove far away beneath them all in the streets of Washington. "The criminal organization Intergang has a history of trafficking alien tech, smuggled to earth through boom tubes. So,"

Mystica cocked a blonde eyebrow as the screen hovering infront of them flickered up with the face a beautiful redheaded woman, along with an ugly looking man.

"I've been keeping tabs on Whisper A'Daire," Superboy told them the name of the woman, "one of Intergangs top agents. Tonight; her boss, Bruno- _u_ _gly_ -Mannheim," he said the man's name with great disgust, "crawled out of hiding to meet up with her."

The screen disappeared as Superboy guided Sphere further up in the sky, following the truck driving quickly on the street. "Looks like they're headed for," the clone squinted his eyes in thought, then frowned upon seeing the building they were nearing.

"The Hall of Justice."

Blue Beetle shared a perplexed look with Mystica. "What could they want from the Hall?"

"I'm not sure," Superboy scowled, pausing Sphere in the air as the white truck halted beside the Hall of Justice. His jaw clenched as Whisper and Bruno slid out from the tuck, looking around cautiously before they began stalking towards the back of the building, carrying a suitcase.

"But I'm sure they're about to do something real ugly," Superboy growled, attention shifting to Blue Beetle. "Can you scan that case?"

Nodding in answer, Blue Beetle converted his right hand into a strange device, its light shining dimly as he attempted to scan the suitcase. _'Unrecognized object.'_ The scarab replied. _'Not compatible.'_

"Not compatible?" The boy echoed, irritated, Mystica ducking away from him as he began swaying his arm in the air angrily. "What does that even mean?!"

Before she could slap his arm away, Superboy broke in, fixing the teen with a puzzled look. "Blue, what do _you_ even mean?"

"Yeah!" Mystica pushed his hand away, "what's up with the whole crazy talking to yourself all the time?"

His shoulders drooping, Blue Beetle slumped in his seat, "It's the Scarab," he groaned, pointing to his back. "The thing stuck to my spine that gives me my armor, the powers. It's like an artificial intelligence created by Ted Kord," He sighed, frowning. "The _previous_ Blue Beetle."

Mystica cocked her head to the side, not completely sure who this Ted Kord was as Superboy looked away sadly, "Yeah, he was a good man."

"So I heard." Blue Beetle mumbled, crestfallen. "Guess he was a super genius or something. Captain Atom figures the Scarab was Kord's ultimate invention, but the Light killed him before he even had a chance to use it." He frowned, looking down sadly before his gaze flicked up to Superboy. "The Scarab advises me but," he cracked a weak smile, "think Jiminy Cricket just with a really bad attitude."

Not even knowing what a Jiminy Cricket was, Mystica spared the boy beside her an amused look. "Good to know that you're not crazy though," she muttered under her breath, unfazed by the glare Superboy directed at her.

"Alright," The kryptonian nodded, not paying much attention to Mystica's comment. "Can it scan the Hall?" He inquired, peering downwards. "Ugly maybe about to launch an attack against whoever's inside and it's shielded from my infrared vision—"

Blue Beetle cut in quickly, "Scan complete!" He announced, "the place is deserted."

"But if no one's inside, what're they doing?" Mystica peeked down from Sphere, the ends of her lips pulling downwards as Whisper and Bruno paused behind the building, placing the suitcase down before clicking it open.

It revealed an absurd and complex machinery from the inside, and Mystica blinked, surprised as Sphere jerked them in the air slightly, whistling noisily upon seeing the insides of the suitcase.

She clenched the dashboard, as Blue Beetle's hidden brows knitted together, "what is that thing?" He asked about the suitcase.

"Dunno," Superboy answered honestly, inspecting the open suitcase from away very closely through his supervision. "But by the way Sphere's reacting, it's definitely apokoliptian."

Finally, _that_ was a term she actually remembered reading in those big books Death had given her in the starting of her hero career. Blue Beetle, however, was still quite perplexed. "An apoko- _whata_?"

"Apokoliptian?" She reminded him, rolling her eyes when he offered a dumb look. "It was in that big green book in the second terms syllabus, remember?"

He still stared, when Superboy stood up from his seat, "you two can discuss studies later, but we need to go now!" And with that, he pushed off Sphere along with Wolf, both of them landing right infront of the villains below them.

Impatiently waiting for Sphere to reach the ground, Mystica found her muscles stiffening as an arm wrapped around her waist, but before she could hiss or pull away, Blue Beetle hopped off the genosphere, and she relaxed when their feet touched the grass safely.

She quickly stepped away from the blue armored male, drawing out her sword from its sheathe as Whisper narrowed her eyes at them all, "Too late, heroes." She snarled, smirking proudly as Bruno clicked on the wiring inside the suitcase.

And suddenly, crimson red circular ripples began to invade the air, going wider and wider before they hit Blue Beetle. For some reason, he cupped his ears, gasping out in pain while stumbling backwards.

Shooting him a surprised look, Mystica quickly brought her attention back to the duo standing before her and Superboy. The kryptonian scowled deeply, hands balling into his fists. "Game's over, ugly!" He yelled furiously, referring to Bruno. "Time to hand the device over!"

Mystica's grip tightened on the sword's handle as Bruno scoffed, not looking frightened at all. "You're half right. The game's half over."

Wolf bared his teeth, Mystica throwing an unimpressed look. "Not is he only ugly," she scowled, "but he's stupid too."

And all of a sudden, the Hall's wall broke through, the blonde girl beside Superboy staring widely, shocked as a monster stepped out, made from rock and wood, crystals sticking out from its hideous form as Bruno shouted loudly.

" _Attack!"_

Releasing a blood chilling roar, the elemental monster threw out a humongous fist, Mystica sprinting backwards along with Superboy and Wolf, skidding over the grass as the creature screeched furiously, stomping towards them. With a forceful push to the ground, Superboy leaped into the air, catching onto the monster's arm, and slamming his fists into the crystal popping out from the monster's body.

Jerking around vigorously, the monster threw the kryptonian off. With a battle cry, Mystica raced forward, swiping the sword across the elemental monster's leg. The blade cut halfway through, and she smirked victoriously, but let out a gasp as the creature kicked ahead, its humongous half-torn foot crashing into her.

As she was sent flying back, the blonde groaned painfully as she hit Sphere, sprawled in the genosphere's pilot seat, teeth grinding together as the monster's foot grew intact again. Getting up, Mystica winced upon hearing an audible pop come out of her back. But before she could get out of Sphere, Blue Beetle flew over her head, his hands morphed into a sonic blaster.

Her heart skipped a beat, her shout out for him to stop going mute because of the noisy sound of the sonic waves he blasted at the creature.

Instead of recoiling, the monster's crystals flashed a dark colour of blue, before it reacted, sending waves of a strong sonic blast back at them all.

Mystica hissed as the sonic collided with her, throwing her away before her back hit the bark of a tree and her body slid down to lay on the ground. Stars spun in her blurry vision as she heard the heavy steps of the monster fade away into the distance. Her ears were still blaring, when something wet pressed against her forehead. Green eyes peered upwards, a scowl gracing her features as she found Wolf's pale eyes staring down at her, his moist snout touching her forehead.

" _Ugh_ , get away from me, you stupid mutt!" She snapped, pushing the beast's face away as she sat upright.

She wiped the wetness off her forehead with her hand, Wolf growling as he lifted his head up in annoyance, stuttering off to Superboy who stood beside Sphere, patting the canine's head. Blue armored feet came into her vision, Blue Beetle offering her a soft smile, "you okay?" He held a hand towards her.

Glancing at his hand, Mystica pushed herself off the ground, getting to her feet as she stalked towards Sphere, grumbling death threats under her breath.

 _'It will be wise to stay away from her.'_ The Scarab advised, Blue Beetle frowning as he walked behind Death's protégé.

* * *

 **|Arlington**

 **|February 13, 22:45 EST**

Pale eyes swept over the blonde sitting beside him, then shifted over to the ebony seated in the front of the genosphere. Chewing the insides of his cheeks, Blue Beetle finally decided to speak up. "Uh, how're the ears?" He inquired, referring to Superboy's ears since the clone had pretty strong superhearing.

Chin resting on top of her fist, Mystica frowned as Superboy craned his head back, gaze resting on Blue Beetle. " _Fine_!" He yelled loudly, the blonde girl wincing because of his shout. The kryptonian pursed his lips quickly, nodding slowly. "Fine, but," his brows furrowed, "what were you thinking using sonics against an Appellaxian?"

Confusion written all over his face, Blue Beetle raised his eyebrows questionably, "dude, never heard of an—" he paused, testing the word on his tongue to speak it correctly when Mystica sighed heavily, leaning back in her seat as she shot him an amused look.

" _Appellaxian_ ," she repeated the word for him, "it was in that big green book you were supposed to read too."

Yellow eyes peeking at her, Blue Beetle rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I've never heard of uh, _that_ , before tonight."

Superboy rolled his eyes, sighing. "You freshmen never do the homework—"

"I _did_ my homework," Mystica cut in, eyes narrowing as the clone kept on going as if he had never been interrupted by her.

"—haven't you read the case file on the League's first mission? Haven't you taken the guided tour of the Hall?"

Blue Beetle scratched the back of his head, "those are rhetorical questions, right?"

Mystica released a snort, her golden curls tickling her cheeks as the wind teased through them as Superboy shook his head, yet another sigh left his lips. "The Appellaxian's were an alien race of energy beings that attacked earth twelve years ago. They inhabited elemental host bodies including one made of crystal that could absorb and redirect a sonic attack." He elaborated.

"So what were they doing inside the Hall?"

"The League took them in as souvenirs," Mystica responded, crossing her arms, not noticing Superboy gazing at her from the front seat as she continued, "the original seven members of the Justice League drove the energy beings off world. The empty husks the aliens left behind became the first, you can say, trophies of the League?" She offered with a shrug, "so they were put in the Hall of Justice."

"Absolutely correct," Superboy complimented, Mystica blinking as his eyes softened, the ends of his lips tugging upwards slightly. "Good to know at least someone takes their homework seriously."

A rare smile touched the girl's lips upon the small praise, and Blue Beetle rolled his eyes from beside her. "But how'd the husks come back to life?"

"Ugly's device must've reactivated the husks, combining somehow into a creature he could control." Superboy deducted, "Sphere is tracking the device's Apokoliptik energy readings."

Sphere whistled loudly, flashing blue lights as she tracked the signal, hovering down from the sky, taking them into a small forest where Whisper and Bruno stood, the elemental creature right beside them.

Bruno grinned wickedly, dark eyes gleaming dangerously. "With this, I can increase the Intergang's reach exponentially."

"Wow," Superboy began loudly, the villain's snapping their heads up as Sphere neared the ground gradually, " _Five_ syllables," he mocked, appearing amused. "I didn't know you knew anymore than two."

Bruno glowered, "hilarious," he snarled, clicking a few keys of the Apokoliptian weapon. "But we'll see who's laughing when I—"

Superboy instantly cut in, "New Genisphere, jam all Apokoliptian signals in the area."

Sphere obliged, shooting out a bright red beam, hitting the weapon which let out sparks, falling out of Bruno's hands and falling to the snow covered ground. But the great monster behind them— _the golem_ — roared, stepping on to the device, stomping it down as it dangerously loomed over them all.

Mystica gazed up at the golem, green eyes sharpening and muscles tensing as it went wild, ferociously swinging its heavy arms around, throwing Whisper and Bruno to the side. She quickly leapt out of Sphere along with the others, thanking her luck as the golem whirled a hand in Sphere's direction, causing it to hit the ground forcefully.

Releasing a blood chilling roar, the golem stomped about viciously, creating somewhat of a small scale snowstorm. His jaw tightening, Superboy leapt towards the rummaging monster in a fit of fury, Wolf not far behind. But the creature struck them with his hand, throwing them back with ease. Green eyes narrowed, Mystica growled furiously, darting forward as she swung the sword with all her force, but the golem stepped aside, letting her run beneath his foot and she skidded over the snow, coming to a quick halt before she whirled around.

Ice seeped through her veins as her gaze came across the rocky sole of the creature's foot, coming closer, and closer with each passing second. She didn't have time to bolt out of the way, her body freezing as she braced herself, not quite willing to accept her approaching death. But a body collided with her, hurling her far away as the golem's foot hit her previous standing spot. The golem growled, leaving them all there and making its way towards a nearby nuclear reactor.

.

Blue Beetle was sure that if he hadn't tackled Mystica out of the way of golem's attacking foot, she would have been a squished into a spat out chewing gum, sticking to the creature's feet as it reigned terror. So he was more than relieved when he got her out safe in the last second, for now she lay beneath him, back pressed to the ground and her fast breaths coming out as white clouds in the chilly atmosphere.

And in that moment, he came to know a few things about her; like how green her eyes were. They were wide open irises, unblinking, dark forest green orbs peering upwards into his pale ones. He noticed the dust of freckles across her cheekbones as she lay frozen, still in shock, sunny locks spread over the white snow.

The Scarab started in his mind, disapproving the sudden rush of emotions he was experiencing.

 _'This is not the time, nor the place to choose a mate, Jaime Reyes.'_

A soft blush exploding across his cheeks, Blue Beetle coughed, rolling off the blonde, more than thankful for the armor that hid his flushed face. "A-are you okay?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

She swallowed, nodding as she staggered up. "That was so close," she shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself, glancing around.

Her gaze met Superboy, the clone's face scrunched up into a scowl as he pinned Whisper and Bruno to a tree, holding them by the front of their collars.

"You freed the beast, superbrat!" Bruno snarled in a fit of fury, clawing at the kryptonian's strong hold. "Now no one's controlling the monster!"

Superboy's scowl deepened, "Blue," he looked over his shoulder, "lock them down."

With a firm nod, Blue Beetle stapled both the villains in the tree's bark, the Scarab chiding him again.

 _'That tactic would be more effective if you fired through the bone.'_

"Eww, no." Blue Beetle commented in disgust, Mystica sparing him a wry look while Superboy shouted from behind them, running towards Sphere.

"Blue, Mystica, let's go! You can fight your inner demons later!"

Blue Beetle frowned, casting a glance to the blonde as she ran after Superboy, climbing in Sphere. "Demon. _Singular_ ; one's enough, believe me." He sighed heavily.

* * *

There was only one thing that she had deducted during her previous fights with the golem. Her sword had no effect on it. She glanced at the blade in her clenched fist, Blue Beetle and Superboy already leaping at the rummaging elemental monster. Green eyes glanced around her surroundings as she slid the sword back into its sheathe, gaze resting on the man and woman dressed up as security guards, firing at the golem making its way closer to the nuclear reactor.

Mystica chewed her bottom lip, searching for any spell that she knew in the back of her mind. Surprisingly, she couldn't think up of any incantation that would aid them in situation. "Who needs magic?" She growled, then bolted forward, skidding beside the man and woman.

She set her fists on her hips, frowning as they turned their guns towards her, but blinked quickly, lowering their weapons.

"That thing!" The woman pointed a finger at the golem as Blue Beetle swept its feet off the ground, "should not get close to the nuclear reactor!"

"I know," she responded, jabbing a thumb towards the exit of the fence they were inside. "But you two need to get out of here right now!"

They stared before nodding slowly, swiftly heading towards the exit, the man calling out to her from behind. "Good luck to you and your friends, Sword Girl!"

"Sword Girl?" She echoed, eyes flashing in anger when Superboy's shout hit her ears. With a curse, she ran forward, stepping aside as the kryptonian slid across the concrete beneath them, creating a small tunnel because of the forceful hit he had got from the golem.

"Focus on the mission!" He snapped, hopping to his feet. Mystica shot him an icy glare, "I was getting the civilians to safety!"

Superboy scowled, parting his lips to scold when he caught onto the sight of something, and ran forward, Mystica frowning but following him still. However, she paused, staring as Blue Beetle sat on the ground, arm shifted into a canon as he fired at the golem.

"You knows sonics aren't gonna work!" She hissed, Superboy grasping the canon and yanking at it. "Break off, Blue! Whatever you're doing, break it off before it kills you!"

Blue Beetle shook his head in disapproval, "No!" He managed through clenched teeth, "It's not attacking. It's _communicating_!"

They stared flatly, surprised when the boy turned to them, golden eyes replaced with dark orange ones as he spoke, conveying the golem's message.

"Where is the stillness of wood, of stone, of crystal, of metal?" Blue Beetle spoke the words of the golem, "All this noise, all this life is _pain_. We sense the power in this place." He pointed in the direction of the nuclear reactor. "The power enough to destroy us! To end the pain. To be still again."

Gradually adjusting to the new information, Mystica's gaze swept over the golem, a frown pulling the ends of her lips downwards upon hearing its miserable words.

Superboy's shoulders slumped, "I can relate." He stiffened as green eyes stared at him in surprise, before he quickly steeled his emotions, nodding at the golem. "I mean, we can help you. We _will_ help you." He spoke with determination.

"What do you suggest?" Mystica inquired, "should we call the Leag—"

Her sentence was cut short as a black bleam darted out from somewhere in the darkness of the night, her breath hitching as the beam struck the golem, destroying it in mere seconds. Blue Beetle cried out in sheer pain, collapsing backwards, Superboy catching him in his arms. Mystica watched, horror creeping over her face as nothing but ashes and debris was left of the golem, tiny red sparks flying in the cold air, fading into nothing quickly.

The sound of footsteps neared them, the man and woman from before smiling broadly. "Don't know who you guys are but you took that thing down!" They grinned gleefully, "probably saved the whole east coast!"

Their praise fell on deaf ears as Blue Beetle stared blindly into the air, hand reaching out, fingers curling around a flying spark. "It was alive," he said softly, "And now it's gone." His jaw clenched in anger, "but who attacked? Who killed it?"

Mystica kept staring into the air, watching the sparks fade into nothingness before a scowl graced her features.

"Someone ugly," Superboy answered Blue Beetle bitterly, blinking as the blonde drew out her sword, shifting her murderous glare to them.

"They're gonna get even _more_ ugly when I'm through with them!" She growled, pivoting on her heel and darting back, ignoring how Superboy shouted for her to wait.

Her jaw tight, and blood boiling, she stormed inside the forest, sword ready to strike, but she paused, staring with wide eyes upon seeing their captives still pinned to the tree's bark with Blue Beetle's staples.

She pushed the sword back into its sheath, walking forward cautiously, green eyes tracing how Whisper and Bruno lay limp, drool trickling down their chins and eyes glazed over.

* * *

 **|HAPPY HARBOUR**

 **|February 13, 23:49 EST**

Sphere soared through the night sky, cold miserable silence descending upon her passengers. Tugging a strand of blonde hair away from her eyes, Mystica's gaze remained fixed on the back of Superboy's head, the clone glaring straight ahead, before she peeked over to the boy beside her from the corners of her eyes.

His jaw set, Blue Beetle sat awfully silent, arms crossed over his chest and pale eyes staring into space, lost in thought.

A few seconds of silence ticked by, and she cleared her throat, scowling slightly as no one paid her any attention. Pursing her lips, she hesitantly reached out, Blue Beetle blinking once, then twice as her hand landed on his shoulder. He shifted in his seat, golden eyes coming across deep green irises as she spoke, her voice surprisingly soft.

"I'm not quite good at this," she mumbled loudly, then smiled. "But _thanks_ for saving my life back there." She thanked, pulling her hand back, before folding her hands onto her lap, green eyes softening as she continued, "and thanks for saving my life too, when I— _y'know_? Fell off that hotel in Geneva."

 _'Level of oxytocin in blood rising up to three percent.'_ The Scarab informed, Blue Beetle brushing off the AI's comment as he grinned faintly. "You're welcome."

She offered a small smile back, turning to face ahead again when he quickly began, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Uh, just so you know, I'm free tomorrow's night _too_ ," he smiled, "so if you wanna hang ou—"

"Oh, right!" Mystica's eyes flashed with realization, and she focused her attention solely on him, "I wanted to ask you what your parents said about me babysitting your little sister."

He stared flatly, silent for a second, then started. "You wanted to ask me _that_?"

"Well, yeah," she bounced her shoulders, "I thought maybe I could meet your parents tonight to discuss the pay and everything." She raised a brow, suspicion sneaking in her voice. "What were you thinking?"

Superboy coughed, the ends of his mouth twitching upwards slightly as Blue Beetle let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head.

"Nothing, hermana. Nothing."

* * *

 **|GOTHAM CITY**

 **|February 14, 00:39 EST**

"Why are you so interested in my husband suddenly?"

With a roll of her silver eyes, Life scoffed, "I'm just concerned for Roy." She pulled open her closet, reaching out for a dark violet colored dress, laying it neatly over her disheveled bed.

"Of course, you are," Jade's amused voice mused through the phone, "but I'm more interested in how you got my number?"

"Artemis," Life answered, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder as she pulled open her drawers, searching for something. "Look, firecrotch is in a pretty horrible condition. He looks like a hobo for crying out loud so if you can ju—"

Gray eyes blinked upon hearing that the call had ended, Jade hanging up from the other side of the line. Muttering a curse in her mother tongue while chucking the phone onto the mattress, she turned her attention to the mirror of her dressing table, contemplating.

Exhaling, she held her arms in the air, the spell rolling off her tongue easily.

 _"Sserd em pu."_

Black smoke swirled out from the floor, enveloping her from all sides and Life grinned at her reflection, pleased as she blew at a stray curl falling over her eyes. Her phone buzzed over the mattress and she quickly picked it up, reading the new text as she clutched onto a purse, making her way out the door, heels clicking against the floor.

 _Show's starting in 15 minutes. Where are you?_

"I'm coming, Zach." She mumbled, softly closing the door behind.

Entering the living room, she came to a sudden halt, muscles tensing instantly as she whirled around, striking her fist outwards. Thin fingers caught her wrist, and silver eyes flared up with surprise as Artemis cocked a blonde brow, the corners of her lips pulled upwards into a smirk.

"Wow," she released the younger's wrist, "don't we look pretty today?"

"Artemis!"

And the archer smiled broadly as her sibling threw her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. She nodded, patting her back with affection.

"It's nice to see you, Life." Artemis smiled, observing how the other's height was slightly taller because of the heels.

Life stepped back, eyes shining. "How'd you get in here?"

"Artemis had the keys to the backdoor," Wally responded, catching the dark magi's attention as he appeared beside the pretty blonde. He grinned toothily, green eyes sparkling as he held something out from behind his back.

Steely eyes blinked once, then twice, meeting a bouquet of snowy white roses, tied together neatly by a crimson bow.

"Happy Valentine's day," the speedster smiled softly, Artemis grinning faintly as Life reached out, taking the bouquet, startled before she sniffed them, sighing blissfully as the fresh scent of flowers wrapped around her.

Her eyes glittered, and she held the bouquet tight, flashing a tight smile. "Thanks, guys."

Wally chuckled, Artemis giving a curt nod, peering around the room. "Where's mom?"

"Sleeping," Life tilted her head slightly, humor in her gaze. "Like normal people should at this time."

Artemis gave a smug smirk, but quirked a brow as the phone in Life's hand rang noisily, the dark haired woman sliding her thumb across its flickering screen, pressing it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Life," Zachary's voice echoed out, "the show's started. Where are you?"

Not noticing how Wally and Artemis shared a look, Life shook her head, black curls bouncing as she sighed, "I'll be right there, Zach. Don't worry. Bye." She hung up instantly, awarding her friends with an apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry, but there's somewhere I really need to go. So can we talk la—"

"Life," Artemis interrupted, hands setting on her hips, tone suddenly serious. "We need to talk."

The younger woman blinked, "sure, but I'm running late at the mo—"

Artemis cut her off again, an unamused expression spreading on her features. "Don't tell me you're ditching us 'cause of Zachary." She frowned, crossing her arms as Life arched a brow, staring flatly. "I'm not ditching anyone," The dark haired woman said coolly, "I just said we can talk later."

"Do you know how this'll effect Dick?" Artemis demanded, unfazed how her sibling's eyes sharpened, a scowl gracing her features. "Please don't tell me you're here to lecture me about it again."

Wally glanced between both of them, starting calmly, "Actually, me and Artemis came here to talk about something pretty serious."

No attention was paid to the redhead, and a frown marred his face as Artemis scowled, "What happened wasn't his fau—"

"Of course, it wasn't." Life sneered, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Nothing is ever is fault. Heck, I'm pretty sure Kaldur going rogue has nothing to do with him too."

Wally stiffened slightly, Artemis's stormy eyes narrowing dangerously. "What we're here to tell you is very important." Her jaw clenched when Life held her hand up, signalling her to stop.

"Artemis, please don't." She scowled, observing them keenly. "I can tell by the looks on your faces that Dick's set you guys up on something."

Wally took a step forward, the tension in the room gradually growing suffocating. "Actually—"

"Well, I don't wanna hear it!" Life snapped, "go tell him that whatever his amazing plan is this time, I am not interested in it. At _all_." She propped a hand onto her hip, grip tight around the bouquet in the other one. "The only things his plans are good for is getting people killed. And I am _not_ going to experience it again."

"Life, will you just listen?" Wally frowned, glancing to his side when Artemis tugged the sleeve of his brown coat, cold steely eyes never leaving her sibling. "Let's go, Wally." She growled, and Wally's red brows furrowed together.

"Babe," he began incredulously, "we need to te—" he paused as those cold silver irises shot him a frosty glare, before Artemis turned, long golden pony tail swishing behind her as she made her way towards the backdoor.

Tongue trapped between his teeth, Wally glanced back, finding Life gazing up at him, that cold but strangely similar to Artemis's stare focused on him. He rubbed the back of his neck gingerly, green eyes lowering towards the floor as he mumbled a small farewell, then sped behind Artemis.

The sound of the backdoor slamming shut felt like someone had struck her, something cold pressing into the back of her head as Life's scowl deepened, the phone in her grasp ringing loudly. She quickly picked up the call, already retreating to her room, heels hitting the floor a bit more harshly than before.

"Tell Zatanna I'm sorry. I'll make it up to her later."

And before Zachary could inquire about the sudden hostility in her tone, she had hung up, closing the door behind her softly as she kicked off the heels, dropping on the foot of her messy bed. Her teeth gritted together, but she exhaled loudly, determined in keeping her swirling emotions in check. But gray eyes swept across the bouquet lying beside her, and she touched the fragile roses, bitter memories coming back suddenly.

Something warm slid down her cheeks suddenly, and she squeezed her eyes shut, the hot tears mixing with the eyeliner, dripping down her face like black streams. She propped her elbows on top of her knees, cupped her face with both of her hands, and sobbed into her palms for the rest of the hour.

* * *

 **A\N:** Yes, I know I didn't add the part where they talk to Roy, but hey, this chapter would've gone too long if I added that in. But thankfully, we have Jade (and Lian) to Red Arrow's rescue~ (but seriously, Roy just needed a haircut.)

Hope you guys enjoyed~


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